Leader from 2001 to 2006 extradited from US after judge dismisses appeal
The former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo arrived in Lima on Sunday after his extradition from the United States, the latest in a string of ex-leaders to face corruption charges in the country.
Images showed Toledo, 77, wearing a green jacket and red jumper, being escorted by Peruvian police and US Marshals down the stairway from a commercial flight at Lima’s international airport.
Continue reading...Josep Borrell says safeguard would show Europe’s commitment to the ‘absolutely crucial’ area
European navies should patrol the disputed Taiwan Strait, the EU foreign policy chief has said, echoing earlier comments stressing how crucial Taiwan is to Europe.
Josep Borrell wrote in an opinion piece in the Journal Du Dimanche that Taiwan “concerns us economically, commercially and technologically”.
Continue reading...Judge cites evidence that state immigration chief failed in duty to protect detention centre occupants in Ciudad Juarez blaze
A judge has ordered the immigration director of Mexico’s northern border state of Chihuahua to stand trial on charges of homicide, injuries and failure to perform his duties over a deadly fire at a migrant detention centre.
Juan José Chávez ordered the director, Salvador González, to be held in prison pending trial.
Continue reading...Leader widely known as Amlo called predecessor’s plane an ‘insult’ but now Tajikistan government pays $92m to take it off his hands
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has finally found a buyer for a luxury presidential jet that he once called an “insult” to the people: the government of Tajikistan.
López Obrador said that the agreed sale price for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner used by his predecessor Enrique Peña Nieto – but never by him – was about 1.66bn pesos, or about $92m.
Continue reading...Environmentalists decry move but natural resources minister says doubling of Vancouver terminal’s size is needed to meet demand
Canada’s federal government has approved a controversial container terminal expansion in Vancouver that would double the port’s current size but could have damaging effects for maritime species already on the brink of extinction, environmental groups warn.
The country’s natural resources minister announced support for the Port of Vancouver’s plan – which would effectively double the size of the Roberts Bank Terminal – framing the decision as a way of preventing future backlog.
Continue reading...Canadian project plans to strengthen understanding of Arctic environment by drawing on Indigenous knowledge
Alexandre Langlois was surprised to learn that snow that has stayed on the ground for a couple days in the Arctic can be heard even before it is felt.
Margaret Kanayok, an Inuk elder from Ulukhaktok, an Inuit community in the neighbouring Northwest Territories, had come to speak to a group of scientists who had gathered to attend the world’s first Arctic snow school, being held in Nunavut, Canada.
Continue reading...The cargo was reported missing on Monday after arriving on an aircraft early in the evening, police say
Police in Canada are investigating a brazen heist of nearly C$20m (US$14.8m) in gold and other “high value” items at Toronto’s Pearson airport.
On Thursday evening, Peel Regional Police said the gold and other goods were stolen on Monday after containers were offloaded from an aircraft.
Continue reading...Greg Ovens’s popular outdoor survival videos used as evidence against him in case centred on Alberta’s Banff national park
An arrest warrant has been issued for a US YouTuber for illegally fishing in a Canadian national park, and his partner has been fined $6,000, after a judge condemned their “reckless” outdoor survival videos.
The popularity of the videos highlights an increasingly lucrative online niche, with millions tuning in to watch avid outdoors people test their skills and mettle in harsh conditions. A number of television shows have further popularized the genre and inspired a growing share of the public to venture into the hinterlands.
Continue reading...Standing With Giants, created for 40th anniversary, commemorates troops and islanders who died
Lifesize silhouetted figures representing the 255 British military personnel and three civilians who lost their lives in the Falklands war have been installed on the parade ground and ramparts at Fort Nelson in Portsmouth.
The art installation, Standing With Giants, was created to mark the 40th anniversary of the conflict and its arrival in the Hampshire port is regarded as particularly poignant as so many of the British ships left and returned there.
Continue reading...Video shows Gonçalves Dias inside presidential palace as supporters of Bolsonaro went on the rampage in January
A key member of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s new administration has been forced to resign after the emergence of security footage showing him inside the presidential palace during the 8 January far-right assault on Brazil’s democratic institutions.
After his election last year, president Lula made the retired army general Gonçalves Dias head of Brazil’s Institutional Security Bureau (GSI), which advises the president on defense and security matters and handles presidential security.
Continue reading...Judge says weak climate plans will increase risk of death for Canada’s young people but do not violate Charter rights
A judge has warned that Ontario’s weak climate plans will “increase the risk of death” for Canada’s young people – but dismissed a lawsuit brought by a group worried that government inaction on global heating threatens their futures.
Justice Marie-Andrée Vermette of Ontario superior court issued a decision on Tuesday that found that while both young people and Indigenous peoples bear the brunt of climate change, government failures to react were not a breach of their rights.
Continue reading...El Faro moves its headquarters to avoid ‘fabricated accusations’ after 25 years reporting on drug wars, crime and corruption
El Faro has survived many pressures in its 25 years reporting on El Salvador’s bloody drug wars, crime and institutional corruption.
“We’ve been harassed. We’ve received death threats from drug cartels, requiring us to contract armed security guards. And we’ve had the police coming to our houses after we revealed their corruption scandals,” said Óscar Martínez, editor of the online investigative outlet. “Some of our journalists have been exiled, but we have managed to continue reporting from San Salvador.”
Continue reading...Kyiv accuses Brazilian president’s initiative for giving equal weight to ‘the victim and the aggressor’
Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has condemned the “violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity” by Russia and again called for mediation to end the war, as he came under fire for his previous comments on the conflict.
Speaking at a lunch on Tuesday with Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, Lula said a group of neutral nations must come together to help broker peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Continue reading...London-listed Serabi Gold extracting gold without approval of Brazilian land registry and Indigenous communities
A London-listed company has been mining gold in the Amazon rainforest without approval from the Brazilian land agency or the consent of nearby Indigenous communities, according to an investigation by the Guardian and partners.
Serabi Gold has been blasting 4.5 metre-wide tunnels and trucking ore from the Coringa project site in Pará state. But interviews with land agency officials and documents seen by the Guardian, Unearthed and Sumaúma indicate that ownership of the area is disputed and the land was allegedly occupied by illegal land-grabbers.
Continue reading...Officials announce 45-day ban on harvesting elvers in provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
Canada has temporarily shut down its baby eel fishery following a string of attacks on harvesters, as well as mounting concerns over widespread poaching of the threatened fish.
Officials from the department of fisheries and oceans on Saturday announced a 45-day ban on harvesting the young eels, called elvers, in the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, shuttering the lucrative C$50m (£30m) market.
Continue reading...Diving to 600m, researchers find reefs full of octopus, lobster and fish, raising hopes for corals’ survival amid rising sea temperatures
Scientists operating a submersible have discovered deep-sea coral reefs in pristine condition in a previously unexplored part of the Galápagos marine reserve.
Diving to depths of 600 metres (1,970ft), to the summit of a previously unmapped seamount in the central part of the archipelago, the scientists witnessed a breathtaking mix of deep marine life. This has raised hopes that healthy reefs can still thrive at a time when coral is in crisis due to record sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification. It also showed the effectiveness of conservation actions and effective management, they said.
Continue reading...Last month’s fatal fire in Ciudad Juárez is latest in a series of deaths and injuries dogging the country’s militarized migration agency
Mexican authorities have arrested the head of migration for the state of Chihuahua in connection with a fire which killed 40 people at a government-run detention facility in the northern border city of Ciudad Juárez last month.
The death of the migrants sparked outrage across Mexico after surveillance footage showed that officials failed to unlock the doors of the holding cell where migrants were trapped.
Continue reading...Justin Trudeau has accused a rival of taking advantage of the decision by Twitter to attempt to defund the network
Prime minister Justin Trudeau has waded into a feud over Twitter’s decision to label Canada’s public broadcaster as “government-funded”, accusing his main political rival Pierre Poilievre of enlisting the help of tech executives in an attempt to defund the network.
Last week, the Conservative leader called on Twitter owner Elon Musk to label the English-language feed of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s “government-funded” – but stopped short of asking for the French arm of the network to also be given the same label.
Continue reading...Payment represents acknowledgment government and British Columbia have failed to honour treaty signed in 1899
Canada has agreed to pay C$800m (US$600m) to settle a land claims dispute with five First Nations, an acknowledgment it failed to honour a treaty signed more than a century ago – and the latest in a string of deals reshaping the relationship between government and Indigenous communities
Over the weekend, officials with both the federal and British Columbia governments admitted successive administrations had broken their promises to the Blueberry River First Nations, the Doig River First Nation, the Halfway River First Nation, the Saulteau First Nations and the West Moberly First Nations.
Continue reading...Brasília encounter, like Brazilian president’s recent trip to China and offer of peacemaking in Ukraine, is part of diplomatic reset
Russia’s minister of foreign affairs, Sergei Lavrov, is due to arrive in Brasília on Monday for talks with his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, in the latest of a series of bilateral encounters likely to ruffle the US.
Lavrov arrives just as Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, returns from a state visit to China, and both missions are part of a diplomatic reset Lula has pursued since returning to power this year, as he strives to recover Brazil’s international reputation after his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, dismantled Brazil’s established tradition of cooperation.
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