*The European Union (EU) has pledged €20m (US$21m) in security assistance for Ecuador. The funding, agreed at security talks in Quito from 3-4 December, will be spent on priorities including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and preventing gang recruitment of minors, according to the deputy secretary for economic affairs and international cooperation at Ecuador’s foreign ministry, Isabel Albornoz. Half of the funding will be targeted at boosting resilience to organised crime, and the remainder will be focused on “digital security, cybersecurity, and the strengthening of information sharing mechanisms between the Ecuadorean security forces and their European partners,” according to a foreign ministry statement.