KIEV, Ucrania (AP) — El ejército ucraniano capturó a dos hombres chinos que luchaban para el ejército ruso en la región oriental de Donetsk, anunció el martes el presidente de Ucrania Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ucrania tiene información de que hay “significativamente más” chinos luchando junto a los rusos en la guerra que lleva más de tres años, declaró Zelenskyy, añadiendo que ha pedido a su principal diplomático “contactar de inmediato con Beijing y averiguar cómo va a reaccionar China ante esto”.
China ha brindado un fuerte apoyo diplomático a Rusia desde que lanzó su invasión a gran escala de su vecino, lo cual fue ampliamente criticado en Occidente. Beijing también ha dado un salvavidas económico a través del comercio de energía y bienes de consumo.
Sin embargo, no se sabe que China haya proporcionado armas o experiencia militar a Rusia, a diferencia de Irán y Corea del Norte, siendo este último incluso proveedor de tropas, según funcionarios estadounidenses y surcoreanos.
Rusia permite que extranjeros se alisten en su ejército, al igual que Ucrania. El pago ofrecido por Moscú hace que servir para Rusia sea atractivo.
Rusia ha rechazado efectivamente una propuesta de Estados Unidos para una pausa inmediata y completa de 30 días en los combates, y se cree que ambas partes se están preparando para una campaña de primavera-verano en el campo de batalla.
“No veo ningún indicio de alto al fuego ni de paz, pero veo muchos indicios de la continuación de la guerra”, explicó Nico Lange, analista del Center for European Policy Analysis en Washington.
Zelenskyy señaló que el enfrentamiento con soldados chinos ocurrió cerca de las aldeas de Tarasivka y Bilohorivka en la región de Donetsk, donde seis militares chinos se enfrentaron a las tropas ucranianas. Dos chinos fueron capturados, sostuvo Zelenskyy en una conferencia de prensa en Kiev junto al primer ministro belga Bart De Wever, quien estaba de visita.
Zelenskyy afirmó que China sería el tercer país en ofrecer apoyo militar al Kremlin después de Irán, que ha suministrado drones de ataque, y Corea del Norte. Estados Unidos y Europa han sido los mayores respaldos de Ucrania en la guerra.
Zelenskyy señaló que soldados norcoreanos capturados anteriormente estaban luchando en la región fronteriza de Kursk en Rusia, donde las fuerzas ucranianas capturaron territorio, mientras que los chinos fueron capturados en suelo ucraniano.
Mientras tanto, el portavoz del Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, manifestó que funcionarios del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Rusia participarán en conversaciones con Estados Unidos en Estambul el jueves.
No detalló sobre qué tratarían las conversaciones, pero la participación del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores sugiere que es otra ronda de conversaciones sobre la normalización de las operaciones de sus respectivas embajadas y el aumento de su personal después de que ambos países expulsaron mutuamente a sus diplomáticos.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
BOGOTÁ (AP) — Las autoridades colombianas investigaban el martes el asesinato de un biólogo italiano que se hospedaba en la ciudad caribeña de Santa Marta, en el norte del país. Su cuerpo fue hallado desmembrado el fin de semana.
La Fiscalía, a través de su policía judicial, reportó el domingo el hallazgo del cuerpo desmembrado en un maletín negro en un sector conocido como Bureche, cerca de un estadio de fútbol. El maletín había sido arrojado a una zona cubierta de maleza.
La fiscalía activó el Cuerpo Técnico de Investigación que identificó a la víctima como Alessandro Coatti, quien se hospedaba desde el 3 de abril en un hotel de la ciudad y luego desapareció.
La Sociedad Real de Biología (RSB, por sus siglas en inglés) lamentó el martes la muerte de Coatti. “Alessandro, conocido como Ale, trabajó para RSB durante 8 años. Lo extrañaremos profundamente”, señaló en X, antes Twitter.
Carlos Pinedo, alcalde de Santa Marta, ofreció una recompensa de más de 11.000 dólares por información que lleve a los responsables del asesinato.
“Este crimen no quedará impune”, prometió Pinedo en X. “Los delincuentes deben saber que en Santa Marta la criminalidad no tiene cabida”, agregó.
Plans for the construction of 40 rental homes at the southwest corner of Willow and Pfingsten Roads in Glenview received preliminary approval from the Village Board this month.
Trustees on April 3 voted 6-0 in favor of an ordinance rezoning the long-vacant 8-acre property for residential use and for the development of 20 two-story duplex homes—a total of 40 residences. A second and final vote is expected to take place on April 15.
The Village Board’s action received applause from a room filled with more than 50 supporters, many of them neighbors of the property, which had been rezoned in 2023 for a commercial development that never materialized.
That project, known as Willows Crossing, had generated objections from residents who called for the land to remain residential.
At last week’s meeting, resident Carol Sullivan said, “This is the right plan and now is the right time for development at Willow and Pfingsten. This proposal delivers a solution that meets both community needs and development potential.”
Glenview trustees also spoke highly of the plan and the engagement of developer Michael Nortman, a Glenview native who grew up in the adjacent neighborhood. Nortman said he met with many of the neighbors and learned there was “a strong desire for anything other than commercial there.”
He acknowledged, however, that he had initially explored constructing the shopping center that had been approved under a different developer in 2023.
“We determined the shopping center plan that was approved was not executable financially,” Nortman said. “Essentially, it was a mis-designed plan.”
The property is located west of Glenview’s Plaza del Prado shopping center and north and east of single-family homes.
Glenview’s 2017 Comprehensive Plan, which contains recommendations for how land throughout the village should be used, identifies the future use for the property at the southwest corner of Willow and Pfingsten as “low density residential.”
Monthly rents for the proposed duplexes were not publicly shared.
There are no plans to include units that meet affordable housing standards, Nortman told the Village Board. Like the development of 60 single-family homes approved by the Glenview Village Board in March on the former Scott Foresman campus at 1900 East Lake Avenue, the Residences at Charlie Court, as the proposed Willow and Pfingsten development is called, will be primarily marketed to “empty nesters” and retirees, according to documents shared by the village.
During an April 3 meeting of the Glenview Board of Trustees, residents raise their hands in support of a residential development proposed for the southwest corner of Willow and Pfingsten Roads. (Jennifer Johnson/for Pioneer Press)
The proposal calls for 27 of the 40 units to contain three bedrooms, and 13 units to contain four bedrooms. Twenty-one of the residences will have the primary bedroom on the first floor, and none of the homes will contain basements.
Calculations from both the village and the developer’s consultant estimate that the new homes will generate approximately 14 additional elementary school students and three high school students.
Glenview School District 30, however, expressed concerns about the potential for additional elementary school-age children and strain on nearby Willowbrook School and its resources.
In a March 5 letter to the Glenview New Development Commission, District 30 Superintendent Emily Tammaru wrote, “The proposed duplexes, with their three-to-four bedroom configurations, are more likely to attract families with children than the ‘empty nester’ demographic suggested.” Her letter noted that a recent townhome development in Northbrook generated 34 new students, rather than the projected 14.
“An unexpected influx of students could lead to classroom overcrowding, necessitate additional staffing, and potentially trigger costly renovations or even a referendum for funding,” Tammaru continued, suggesting that the village consider a 55-and-over age restriction for the duplex development.
Nortman said this is not part of the plan.
“Just because you put an age restriction at 55 doesn’t mean they don’t have kids,” he said. “That’s not the way the law works and that’s not the way age restrictions work.”
As required by the village, the developer will pay impact fees to the local schools and park districts. Changes to the fee structure are under consideration, but as they stand now, District 30 will receive a one-time payment of $129,461, Glenbrook High School District 225 will receive $38,675, and the Glenview Park District will receive $221,988, according to information provided by the village.
The new development is projected to generate $487,500 in annual property taxes, with $202,440 going to District 30. Still, that district could see a negative net fiscal impact, depending on the number of new students, projections from Teska Associates, the village’s fiscal consultant, indicate.
While supporting the development, Glenview Trustee Katie Jones said the impact on schools from new residential construction is “something we need to be concerned about.”
“We continue to have these residential developments come before us and we are approving them in what I consider to be ‘silos,’” she said. “I think it’s important we start to look at the community as a whole and look at what is going into our schools. All of these [developments] will affect District 225.”
