Ecuador–U.S. Anti-Drug Push: Ecuadorian security forces, with SOUTHCOM and the DEA, carried out major joint raids (Operation Factoria and Jerico) against Los Lobos and Los Choneros networks across six provinces, netting dozens of arrests, seizing aviation fuel, weapons, devices, cash, and dismantling two clandestine airstrips. El Niño Watch for Ecuador: New research using coral records says El Niño episodes are intensifying as the planet warms, with major knock-on risks for rainfall and extremes—an issue Ecuador is already bracing for as conditions shift. Immigration Fallout Hits Ecuadorians Abroad: A Kissimmee mother and daughter who were detained by ICE after a viral hospital arrest have self-deported to Ecuador, while other reports highlight ongoing ICE activity involving Ecuadorian residents in the U.S. Global Crime Trend: A new organized-crime report says “foreign actors” are driving the sharpest cross-border rise, underscoring how cartel-linked networks keep spreading faster than governments. Sports Spotlight: Mariangeli Martínez won multiple medals in Guayaquil as Ecuador hosted weightlifting qualifiers tied to the Lima 2027 Pan American Games.