- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
Grisly killings stoke cartel fears in Ecuador
The bodies of two men hung from a pedestrian bridge in southwestern Ecuador stunned the country Monday and raised the spectre of Mexican cartels there.
The victims were killed, tied up and suspended by the same rope on a pedestrian bridge in Duran, a city near Guayaquil, Ecuador's biggest city, police said.
As the South American country faces an upsurge in violence linked to drug trafficking, the national press has stressed the singularity of the incident.
The two men had been missing since February 11, according to police, and an investigation was underway into their abduction.
The crime could be linked to "the capture of seven tons of cocaine" Sunday in the port of Guayaquil, the commander of the zone, Marcelo Cortez, said.
One of the victims has already been identified by the media as Carlos Alberto Escobar. He was 34 years old and was recognized by a tattoo.
In the past four months, five decapitated people have been found in Duran and Guayaquil, the region hardest hit by the violence which authorities link to conflicts between local groups of drug traffickers with ties to powerful Mexican cartels.
These rivalries are at the root of the deadly violence that has plagued Ecuadoran prisons for months, in particular the huge prison complex in Guayaquil, where around 320 inmates were killed in a riot last year.
Ecuador was for years a transit point for cocaine produced in Colombia and Peru -- bordering countries and the world's leading suppliers of this drug -- but the intelligence services believe that this lucrative enterprise is now deeply rooted within the country itself.
"The country is under attack by an international mafia of drug cartels," a presidential official said in November.
M.Carneiro--PC