ECUADOR: Left-wing presidential challenger Luisa Gonzalez has denounced the withdrawal of her security team for jeopardising her safety and that of her family.  

Ms Gonzalez, who faces incumbent Daniel Noboa in a run-off vote tomorrow, said her military  security detail had been “abruptly relieved of their duties.”

Ecuador has been plagued by political violence, including the assassination of a candidate in the last presidential election.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Many of the world’s largest shipping nations –but not the United States – agreed today to impose a minimum tax of $100 (£76) for every ton of carbon dioxide emitted by ships, if their planet-heating emissions are not already accounted for.

What is effectively the first global climate tax will be come into force by 2028, targeting nations that have not contributed enough to the International Maritime Organisation’s net-zero fund and whose ships are not meeting their compliance target

TURKEY: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held a first meeting with pro-Kurdish politicians who are working to end the 40-year conflict between Ankara and separatist militants.

Mr Erdogan met Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party MPs Pervin Buldan and Sirri Sureyya Onder at the presidential palace. Mr Onder said: “It was a very positive meeting.”

UNITED STATES: A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair on Thursday and crashed upside down in the Hudson river, killing the pilot and a family of five Spanish tourists.

Video footage pointed to a “catastrophic mechanical failure,” said aviation lawyer Justin Green.