Xiomara Castro’s move would leave Taiwan with formal diplomatic relations with only 13 countries
The Honduras president, Xiomara Castro, has said she has instructed her foreign minister to establish official relations with China, a move that would end its ties with Taiwan and further isolate the island on the world stage.
The Central American country’s switch from Taipei to Beijing would leave Taiwan with formal diplomatic ties with only 13 countries.
Continue reading...Police investigating if incident was deliberate and say there is no further danger in the town of Amqui north of Quebec City
Two men have died and nine other pedestrians were injured in Canada, after they were hit by a truck on Monday, police said.
Quebec police spokesperson Helene St Pierre said a 38-year-old man had been arrested and investigators were looking into whether the incident in the town of Amqui, north of Quebec City, was deliberate.
Continue reading...Mexico’s president pushes back against US critics of his security record after kidnapping near the border that left two dead
Mexico’s president has asserted that his country is safer than the United States, pushing back against US critics of his security record following a deadly kidnapping near the border that claimed the lives of two Americans.
The 3 March attack on four Americans in the Mexican city of Matamoros and their subsequent abduction was covered closely by US media and sparked recriminations from politicians in the US, particularly Republicans.
Continue reading...Hundreds of migrants tried to race across the Paso del Norte bridge to El Paso after false internet post said the border was open
Hundreds of people near an El Paso, Texas, border crossing who tried to enter the US from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Sunday were met with physical barricades erected by shield-wielding authorities, according to reports on what is the latest episode to pit US immigration officials against a group of migrants.
Many of the migrants, who were largely Venezuelan, had gone to the center of the Paso del Norte international bridge to determine whether a rumor that the border had been temporarily opened to them was true, the Texas Tribune reported. Many trying to flee lives in Mexico, where they cannot legally work and are often confronted by police, had hurried through toll booths on the Mexican side of the bridge and arrived at the center.
Continue reading...Far from the romanticised notion of Old Havana, this project documents the city’s housing situation as a microcosm of the country’s collapse. Many buildings have collapsed or been declared uninhabitable, forcing people to live in shelters or squat in unsafe conditions while new hotels are built around them
Cubans face a precarious present and an uncertain future. While the government focuses on the recovery of the tourism sector, people’s living conditions are driving the largest migratory exodus in the country’s history.
Inflation, the economic blockade and mismanagement mean many are unable to meet their basic needs.
Continue reading...Government declares state of emergency after major damage and disruptions in northern regions
At least six people have died in Peru as a powerful cyclone unleashed torrential rains, battering hundreds of homes and causing major disruptions in northern areas.
The government has declared a state of emergency as it seeks to bring relief to regions including Lambayeque, Piura and Tumbes hit by the cyclone known as Yaku.
Continue reading...Officers with C-IRG accused of ripping off protesters’ masks and pepper-spraying them during protest in British Columbia
Canada’s federal police force has opened an investigation into a controversial unit tasked with overseeing environmental protests, following hundreds of complaints that officers used excessive force, disregarded court orders and violated protesters’ rights.
The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, a watchdog arm of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said on Thursday it would examine the activities of the community-industry response group, or C-IRG, based in British Columbia.
Continue reading...Satellites show record destruction for the month of February as new government tries to undo damage wreaked under Bolsonaro
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest rose in February to the highest level on record for the month, highlighting the scale of the challenge facing the administration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as it tries to undo the environmental destruction wreaked under the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Government satellites show that a record 322 sq km of Amazon rainforest were destroyed in February, a 62% increase on last year and the highest number for the month since records began.
Continue reading...Gesture may not be civil or polite but ‘it is not a crime’ and is protected under Canada’s constitution, judgment says
Giving your neighbour the middle finger may not be polite but is protected as part of a person’s right to freedom of expression under the Canadian constitution, a judge has ruled.
In a 26-page decision, Dennis Galiatsatos dismissed a case against a man accused of harassing his neighbour in a Montreal suburb.
Continue reading...Five men found bound with note apparently from drug cartel alluding to ‘mistakes caused by lack of discipline’
Five men who purportedly carried out the attack on four Americans last week have been found dumped on a street in the city of Matamoros, with an apology note claiming to be from the fearsome cartel that controls much of Tamaulipas state.
The five men were discovered with their hands tied, shirts pulled over their heads and bare chests to the pavement. Nearby, a note in black marker read: “We’ve decided to hand over those involved and directly responsible in the events who acted at all times under their own free will.”
Continue reading...Marathon trial, which lasted a year and a half, sees people convicted on charges ranging from gang membership to murder
Fifteen people have been convicted on charges ranging from gang membership and gun possession to murder, in a landmark gang-busting trial hailed by Jamaican authorities as a major blow to one of the island’s deadliest criminal organisations.
Twelve other defendants were acquitted and the cases against five others were not pursued, but police and prosecutors described the verdicts this week as historic. One defendant was murdered while on bail.
Continue reading...City called off its dogs and said it would review its sign approval process after canine owners called the prohibition ‘lunacy’
Officials in Canada’s most populous city have their tails between their legs after they were forced to call off an effort to stop dogs barking in local parks.
Inhabitants of Toronto are grudgingly accustomed to a daily soundtrack of city life: gridlocked traffic, rumbling trucks, heavy machinery and noisy neighbours.
Continue reading...Prime minister faces accusations of not taking issue seriously amid reports of 11 candidates receiving Chinese money
• Canada roiled by leaked intelligence reports of Chinese election ‘meddling’
Justin Trudeau is under mounting pressure to explain how seriously his government has responded to the threat of Chinese interference in Canadian elections in the wake of damning intelligence leaks.
Allegations that the prime minister’s government has failed to act on meddling efforts featured prominently in a raucous session of parliament on Wednesday, as concern over Beijing’s efforts to undermine Canadian elections continues to dominate the country’s politics.
Continue reading...A plane carrying money had arrived from Miami when 10 robbers entered the airport after tying a security guard
A foiled multimillion dollar heist at Chile’s largest airport has left two dead and highlighted concerns of rising crime in the Andean nation.
Footage widely shared on social media shows a shootout between robbers and officials from Chile’s DGAC aviation agency below a Latam Airlines plane at the Arturo Merino Benítez international airport in Santiago.
Continue reading...Labour MP says Rishi Sunak should talk to region’s leaders after Trevelyan family announcements
The Labour MP Clive Lewis has called on Rishi Sunak to enter negotiations with Caribbean leaders on paying reparations for Britain’s role in slavery, following the historic announcements by the Trevelyan family.
Speaking at a parliamentary debate on promoting financial security in the Caribbean, Lewis said the issue of reparations could not be dismissed as an obsession among a small group of “so-called woke extremists”.
Continue reading...Two killed, third person injured and fourth unharmed after quartet traveling for cosmetic surgery were seized in Tamaulipas
Two of four Americans kidnapped in northern Mexico have been found dead, authorities said on Tuesday, while their two compatriots were found alive, bringing to an end the frantic search that had captivated media attention on both sides of the border.
The governor for Mexico’s northern Tamaulipas state, Américo Villarreal, confirmed the news at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, adding that one person who had been found watching over the victims was in custody.
Continue reading...Ioanis Patsias plays pop star himself, replicating performance down to costume changes and dance numbers for 3,500 Lima fans
The Spanish pop superstar Rosalía disappointed thousands of fans in Peru when the country was left off the 15-country list on her Motomami tour last year.
But one Peruvian, Ioanis Patsias decided to make sure his fellow fans did not miss out on her pop spectacle and put on a tribute show, playing the avant-garde pop queen himself.
Continue reading...Trudeau resists calls for public inquiry as leaks spark fierce debate and threaten to dent country’s reputation with allies
A flurry of leaked intelligence reports has reignited allegations that China interfered in Canada’s recent federal elections, kicking off a fierce debate over possible responses to Beijing’s meddling.
But the leaks also run the risk of harming Canada’s reputation among its allies, experts warn, as the country’s spy agency struggles to respond to mounting public concern.
Continue reading...Gunmen opened fire on vehicle in northern city of Matamoros, and FBI is offering $50,000 reward for return of victims
Gunmen kidnapped four US citizens who crossed into Mexico from Texas last week to buy medicine and got caught in a shootout that killed at least one Mexican citizen, officials said on Monday.
The four were in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. They came under fire on Friday shortly after entering the city of Matamoros from Brownsville, the southernmost tip of Texas near the Gulf coast, the FBI San Antonio division office said in a statement on Sunday.
Continue reading...Smoke enters cabin of US Boeing 737 after nose and engine were struck during departure of flight 3923 for Florida
A US jetliner taking off from Cuba had engine trouble after hitting birds and returned to Havana for an emergency landing on Sunday, Cuban authorities said.
Smoke entered the cabin of the plane but no one was injured in the incident involving Southwest Airlines flight 3923 to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said the airline and the Cuban civil aviation authority, Cacsa.
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