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Facebook Tweet Email Link QUITO, Ecuador  —  He says he was 18 years old when he first joined a gang in Ecuador a decade ago. Now a senior commander with a wife and kids, the man almost casually acknowledges he’s contributing to the deadly drug trade plaguing the country. “Yes, I’m part of the problem,” he tells CNN’s David Culver, agreeing to talk, but only after dark, away from crowds and with his face disguised. “They gave me everything,” he says of the gang, insisting he joined them out of desperation. Ten years on, he says he won’t quit “because…

Facebook Tweet Email Link London  —  It’s a quiet, unassuming road that lies a stone’s throw away from some of London’s most celebrated landmarks. But residents of Cartwright Street could soon be looking out of their windows to the balconies of Chinese embassy staff, if plans to build a new “super-embassy” in the area go ahead. China is pushing forward with designs for its new diplomatic outpost at Royal Mint Court, a large plot in the heart of London, near Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. The imposing building, which currently lies empty, was once home to the facility…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Soccer superstar Mohamed Salah called out European football’s governing body on Saturday for its limited statement after Palestinian footballer Suleiman Al-Obeid was killed in Gaza. The Egyptian Liverpool forward, the highest-profile Arab player in the game, pointedly noted that the post by UEFA made no reference to the circumstances of Al-Obeid’s death. Al-Obeid, who during his playing days was part of the Palestinian national team, was killed by an Israeli strike targeting civilians waiting for aid in southern Gaza, according to the Palestine Football Association (PFA). “Farewell to Suleiman al-Obeid, the ‘Palestinian Pelé’. A talent who…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations, plus the latest in aviation, food and drink, and where to stay. In our roundup of travel news this week: the secret tunnel city underneath Rome, China’s “8D city” where trains pass through walls, plus a new report reveals the world’s busiest flight routes, biggest aviation markets and most popular planes. Isn’t data just delicious? The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its 2024 World Air Transport Statistics report, and it’s filled with fascinating nuggets. Here are a few to wow…

Facebook Tweet Email Link An acrylic waterslide on Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas broke open on Thursday, injuring one passenger and leaving a sizable hole in the bottom of the tubular slide. “Our team provided medical care to an adult guest when acrylic glass broke off a water slide as the guest passed through the slide,” a Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson said in a statement. “The guest is being treated for his injuries. The water slide is closed for the remainder of the sailing pending an investigation.” The guest is in stable condition. Video captured by bystanders after the…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations, plus the latest in aviation, food and drink, and where to stay. Every year after the Michelin guide announces its selection of starred restaurants in France, journalist Nora Bouazzouni receives a flurry of angry and resentful messages. It’s become an unexpected consequence of her burgeoning reputation as one of the most influential whistleblowers of France’s restaurant industry. The messages come from despondent restaurant staff, livid at seeing abusive, toxic chefs who have made their lives hell elevated to hero status with the…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Hong Kong  —  On a sweltering summer afternoon in Hong Kong, Yeung Fong-yan’s flat felt like an oven. Her air conditioner ran at full blast, but the tiny, tin-roofed room still baked in the heat, with a thermometer inside reading 36°C (96.8°F). “Sometimes it’s so hot we can’t even sleep,” Yeung said, seated on the small bed that doubles as her couch, dining table and sleeping quarters. Her 13-year-old grandson had just returned home from school, exhausted and drenched in sweat after climbing nine floors to reach their apartment. The two live together in a rooftop…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Paris AP  —  French President Emmanuel Macron pledged Friday that no effort will be spared to track down and prosecute unknown attackers who chopped down an olive tree planted in homage to a French Jew murdered in 2006. The commemorative tree for Ilan Halimi, planted 14 years ago in the northern Paris suburb of Épinay-sur-Seine, was felled on Wednesday night, seemingly with a chainsaw. The town posted a photo on its Facebook page showing the tree’s leafy, bushy top completely severed from its base, leaving just the stump poking from the ground. “Cutting down the tree…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations, plus the latest in aviation, food and drink, and where to stay. In our travel roundup this week: the Japanese city firebombed by the US just hours before the end of World War II, the mysterious origins of the world’s only non-rectangular national flag, plus four lifetime friends recreate the photo they took on a UK beach more than 50 years earlier. East Anglia was selected by Lonely Planet as one of its top places to visit in 2025 and now there’s…

Facebook Tweet Email Link Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered around Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, with organizers reporting a turnout exceeding 400,000. In one of the largest coordinated demonstrations since the beginning of the Gaza war nearly two years ago, protesters blocked major roads, closed private businesses, and staged rallies in big cities across Israel. The nationwide grassroots strike and widespread protests grew over the course of Sunday as protesters demand the government secure the release of 50 hostages still in Gaza. People also protested outside government ministers’ homes. The day of protests began at 06:29…