- Tigers beat Guardians and on brink of advancing in MLB playoffs
- Argentina MPs back Milei's veto of university funding
- Man City sink Barca in Women's Champions League as Bayern outgun Arsenal
- Greek international Baldock, 31, found dead in pool: state agency
- Florida seaside haven a ghost town as hurricane nears
- Pharrell Williams to co-chair Met Gala exploring Black dandyism
- Wall Street indices hit fresh records as Chinese shares tumble
- Taiwan's president to deliver key speech for National Day
- Sea row on the menu as ASEAN leaders meet China's Li
- Injured Kane won't start England's Nations League clash with Greece
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Mozambique starts tallying votes in tense election
- Zelensky moves to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- Rodgers rejects 'false' suggestions of role in Saleh dismissal
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Lebanon facing 'catastrophic' situation as 600,000 displaced: UN
- US warns Israel not to repeat Gaza destruction in Lebanon
- Musk's X returns in Brazil after 40-day showdown with judge
- Call her savvy? Harris unleashes unconventional media blitz
- Lucian Freud 'masterpiece' fetches £13.9 million at London sale
- SoFi Stadium to hold next two CONCACAF Nations League finals
- McIlroy and DeChambeau set for PGA-LIV 'Showdown' in Vegas
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Run blitz edges India and South Africa closer to World Cup semi-finals
- Zelensky to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Israel captain says 'difficult' to focus on football in time of war
- Macron to host Ukraine's Zelensky after meeting Ukrainian troops
- Root says 'many more to get' after England Test runs landmark
- India pile up World Cup high to rout Sri Lanka
- One year later, Israeli hostage family learns of loss
- Texans receiver Collins, Pats' safety Peppers out for NFL clash
- Biden-Netanyahu talk as Hezbollah, Israeli forces clash
- Musk's X available again in Brazil after 40-day ban
- Reddy stars as India crush Bangladesh to clinch T20 series
- Nobel winners hope protein work will spur 'incredible' breakthroughs
- What are proteins again? Nobel-winning chemistry explained
- Arch rivals Ghana, Nigeria drawn together in CHAN qualifying
- AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins
- Trump lauds India's Modi as 'total killer'
- Wall Street, Europe rise as Chinese shares tumble
- Hunkering down for Hurricane Milton at Disney -- but first, a few rides
- Reddy, Rinku power India to 221-9 in second Bangladesh T20
- Overshooting 1.5C risks 'irreversible' climate impact: study
- Time running out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Demis Hassabis, from chess prodigy to Nobel-winning AI pioneer
- The long walk for water in the parched Colombian Amazon
Peru opens impeachment debate against President Castillo
Peru's opposition-dominated Congress began debate Monday that will decide the future of leftist President Pedro Castillo, who is accused of corruption and moral incapacity.
"I am subject to democratic due process... (and) I will always squarely face the nation," Castillo said at the opening of his hearing.
It is already the second time in his eight months as Peru's leader that Castillo has faced an impeachment process in a country with a recent history of ousting its presidents.
It is the sixth time since 2017 that Congress has opened impeachment proceedings against a sitting president.
The right-wing Pedro Pablo Kuczynski survived one but resigned in 2018 before Congress opened a second debate.
Centrist Martin Vizcarra also survived one attempt to remove him before he was finally ousted in 2020.
Castillo faced a similar impeachment attempt in December and has been under fire from the opposition and certain sections of the media.
Although the conservative opposition dominates Congress, it does not have a sufficient majority to force Castillo out on its own.
The opposition can count on 80 members of the 130-seat lower house compared to just 50 for the governing Free Peru party and its allies, but 87 votes are needed to remove Castillo.
"To be honest we don't have the votes, we have approximately 76," admitted Norma Yarrow, from the right-wing Advance Country party that sponsored the impeachment move.
- 'Invalid accusations' -
The opposition accuses the former rural school teacher of moral incapacity and tolerating alleged corruption in his inner circle.
He has also come under fire for his repeated ministerial crises that has seen him forced into naming four cabinets already.
The session began just after 3:00 pm (2000 GMT) with a speech by Castillo, who had an hour to answer the accusations he faces.
The impeachment proceeding "does not contain a single element that validly supports" the accusation of moral incapacity, said Castillo.
The debate, in which Castillo will be absent and represented by his lawyer, is due to last at least four hours.
The vote will take place on Monday.
If he is removed, Castillo's Vice President Dina Boluarte would assume the mantle.
Ever since his razor-tight election runoff victory against right-wing populist Keiko Fujimori, Castillo has faced accusations of fraud.
Impeachment proceedings are relatively common in Peru because its constitution allows for one to be brought against a president based on the subjective issue of political rather than legal wrongdoing.
And given the Peruvian president rarely has a majority in Congress, a disgruntled opposition is often in a position of strength regarding the future of the top elected official in the land.
It has created so much political instability that Peru even had three separate presidents within the space of one week in November 2020.
Castillo has received support from fellow leftist governments in Latin America while the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights criticized the charge of moral incapacity saying that there was "no objective definition" of it.
Castillo's rating is at 66 percent, although that is not as bad as the 70 percent rejection rating of Congress, according to pollsters Ipsos.
A.Jones--AMWN