Havana is ally of Moscow but foreign ministry states: ‘Cuba is not part of the war in Ukraine’
Cuban authorities have arrested 17 people in connection with what they described as a network to recruit Cuban nationals to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
The head of criminal investigations for Cuba’s interior ministry, César Rodríguez, told state media that at least three of the 17 people arrested were part of recruitment efforts inside the island country.
Continue reading...Eduardo Verástegui, who also acts in movie embraced by QAnon followers, files paperwork for 2024 election
The producer of a surprise US box office hit widely embraced by followers of the extremist Q-Anon conspiracy theory is attempting a long-shot run for president in Mexico.
Shortly before a deadline late on Thursday, Eduardo Verástegui, producer of Sound of Freedom, filed paperwork to run as an independent candidate in the June 2024 election.
Continue reading...Campaigners say many facilities and medical workers are likely to deny access since procedure is banned in many local jurisdictions
Human rights activists in Mexico have welcomed a historic ruling by the country’s supreme court that decriminalized abortion, but warned that the historic decision will not automatically make terminations accessible for all Mexican women.
Wednesday’s unanimous decision stripped away federal criminal penalties related to abortions – but not the many local laws banning the procedure, which remain on the books in 20 of Mexico’s 32 states.
Continue reading...Unprecedented drought in British Columbia could usher in a fresh set of natural disasters, including devastating floods
A season of record-breaking wildfires in British Columbia is nearly over, but officials in the Canadian province have warned that a persistent drought in the Canadian province is a “sleeping giant” which could usher in a fresh set of natural disasters, including devastating floods in the coming months.
Bowinn Ma, British Columbia’s emergency management minister said this week the unprecedented drought has the full attention of senior government officials as the region enters the “home stretch” of the province’s unprecedented wildfire season. Hundreds of blazes tore across the province this summer, leaving crews exhausted and broken, and scorching an estimated 2.2m hectares of land.
Continue reading...Marie-Josée Hogue to investigate claims of election meddling by China and other countries, in process marred by months of feuding
Canada has appointed a judge to lead a public inquiry into allegations of political meddling by China and other nations, in an attempt to restore confidence in a process marred by months of political feuding and allegations of cronyism.
The governing Liberal party announced on Thursday that Marie-Josée Hogue, a Quebec appeals court judge, will lead a public inquiry into allegations of foreign interference in Canadian elections. She has been tasked with providing a series of recommendations ahead of the next federal vote in 2025.
Continue reading...Children risking lives to migrate across Latin America and Caribbean, with aid groups warning they cannot cope
Record numbers of children are migrating across Latin America and the Caribbean with more than 60,000 children risking life and limb to cross the treacherous Darién Gap jungle pass this year, according to a new Unicef report.
Sounding the alarm over the rising number of youngsters on the move, the UN’s children’s agency said at least 92 migrant children had died or gone missing last year – more than any other year since 2014.
Continue reading...Former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and senator Xóchitl Gálvez were selected as the candidates for the two major electoral groups
Mexico will almost certainly have its first female president in 2024, after the governing Morena party and the opposition coalition both chose women as their candidates.
Former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum was named Morena’s candidate on Wednesday, despite runner-up Marcelo Ebrard’s last-minute denouncement of the process and demand for it to be redone.
Continue reading...Decision to remove abortion from federal penal code comes amid trend in Latin America of loosening restrictions on procedure
Mexico’s supreme court has unanimously ruled that state laws prohibiting abortion are unconstitutional and violate women’s rights, in the latest in a series of victories for reproductive rights activists across Latin America.
Wednesday’s ruling came two years after the court ordered the northern state of Coahuila to remove sanctions for abortion from its criminal code, a decision which prompted a tortuous state-by-state process of legal battles. So far 12 of Mexico’s 31 states have decriminalized the procedure.
Continue reading...More than a third of runners at this year’s Mexico City Marathon have been expelled after organisers say they cut out sections of the 26.2 mile course.
An investigation was launched after complaints that runners had used cars, public transport and bikes to cheat during the race on 27 August. Tracking data then showed that thousands of participants had not passed some of the 5km checkpoints that monitor whether runners have completed the entire race.
Continue reading...Lee, currently in Atlantic, could be upgraded to hurricane later on Wednesday with its track still unclear
A tropical storm in the Atlantic might soon turn into an “extremely dangerous” major hurricane, with its future track and chances of making a potentially devastating landfall still unclear, the National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday.
Tropical Storm Lee could turn into a hurricane later on Wednesday and intensify to a category 3 or higher by this weekend. The National Hurricane Center issued advisories in areas near the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
Continue reading...More than 60 cities battered by storm since Monday night as more heavy rains expected but sparing worst-hit areas
An extratropical cyclone in southern Brazil has caused floods in several cities, killing at least 31 people and leaving more than 1,600 homeless.
More than 60 cities have been battered by the storm since Monday night, and Rio Grande do Sul’s governor, Eduardo Leite, said the death toll was the state’s highest due to a climate event.
Continue reading...In August, 50,000 people fleeing northward were met with long lines for medical attention, a lack of water and sleeping spaces
Medical non-governmental organizations (NGOs) attending to injured and sick migrants crossing the Darién Gap are increasingly unable to manage the record number of people taking the perilous journey, according to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the United Nation high commissioner for human rights.
In August 50,000 people took the week-long trek through the dense jungle connecting Colombia and Panama, outstretching the capacity of MSF’s staff at medical treatment posts on the Panamanian border.
Continue reading...Havana says it is dismantling network seeking to recruit Cubans as mercenaries as Moscow attempts to boost its forces
Cuba has uncovered a human trafficking ring aimed at recruiting Cubans to fight as mercenaries for Russia in its war in Ukraine, its foreign ministry has said, as Moscow seeks to increase the size of its forces.
In a statement, the Cuban foreign ministry said the authorities were working to “neutralise and dismantle” the network, which it said was operating within the Caribbean island nation and in Russia.
Continue reading...Premier says officials will review deals to sell protected lands after Steve Clark resigns amid Greenbelt land controversy
Ontario’s provincial government is in turmoil following the abrupt resignation of its housing minister amid accusations he breached ethics laws in a controversial land swap deal.
The Ontario premier, Doug Ford, defended his government’s conduct on Tuesday but said top officials would begin a review of deals to sell protected lands on the periphery of the greater Toronto area.
Continue reading...Taskforce deployed to remove thousands of cows owned by land grabbers from indigenous territory
The Brazilian government has launched its biggest ever operation to remove thousands of cows owned by illegal land grabbers from indigenous territory in the Amazon rainforest.
Three helicopters, a dozen vehicles and a heavily armed corps of police and environment rangers are carrying out the cattle drive, which criminal gangs attempted to block by setting fires on the route, destroying bridges and intimidating drivers.
Continue reading...Fifty-seven law enforcement officers held in six prisons amid sharp rise in gang violence ahead of election
Fifty guards and seven police officers have been released, Ecuadorian authorities said, after being held hostage in several prisons for more than a day.
The country’s corrections system, the National Service for Attention to Persons Deprived of Liberty, said in a statement that the 57 law enforcement officers, who were held in six different prisons, were safe, but did not offer details about how they were released.
Continue reading...Friends and foes of Brazil’s former president believe it is only a matter of time before he is detained
Brazil’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, has never shown much sympathy for prisoners.
“Why should we give those dirtbags a good life? … They should just get fucked, full-fucking-stop. That’s what I reckon,” he once ranted.
Continue reading...Canadian advocacy groups alarmed by anti-LGBTQ+ laws in America and say legislation is having an impact across the border
Canadian LGBTQ+ rights and civil liberties organizations are speaking out about the rise in hostile laws and hate crimes in the United States.
The development comes after the Canadian government earlier this week warned LGBTQ+ Canadian citizens about the risks of visiting the US due to a growing wave of anti-LGBTQ+ local laws.
Continue reading...Canadian government issues warning after numerous discriminatory laws passed in Republican-controlled states
LGBTQ+ citizens are at risk when traveling to the US due to numerous discriminatory laws passed at state level, the Canadian government has warned.
“Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws,” the government’s website reads.
Continue reading...Conservation officers believe animal was shot and dragged into Squamish River in British Columbia
Conservation officers in Canada are asking the public for help after the body of a grizzly bear was discovered floating in a British Columbia river.
This week, the province’s conservation service said it was investigating the illegal killing of the bear, after remains were discovered near the town of Squamish.
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