Category Archives: Americas

‘Unprecedented’ Nova Scotia wildfires expected to worsen, officials warn

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More than 18,000 people remain under evacuation order outside Halifax as Canadian PM Justin Trudeau pledges federal assistance

Officials in the province of Nova Scotia say unprecedented wildfires that have forced thousands from their homes will keep growing despite the “water, raw muscle power and air power” deployed by fire crews.

As of Wednesday, more than 20,000 hectares of the Maritime province were burning from 13 wildfires, including three fires that considered out of control. More than 18,000 people remain under evacuation order outside Halifax, the region’s largest city. More than 200 structures, the majority of which are homes, have been destroyed by the fire. No fatalities have been recorded.

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Outrage as Brazil law threatening Indigenous lands advances in congress

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Critics denounced ‘lies, hatred and racism’ as legislation moves to senate after being overwhelmingly endorsed by lower house

Indigenous leaders and environmentalists in Brazil have voiced horror and indignation after lawmakers approved controversial legislation which opponents fear will strike a devastating blow to Indigenous communities and isolated tribes.

Members of Brazil’s conservative-dominated lower house overwhelmingly endorsed bill number 490 on Tuesday night, by 283 votes to 155.

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Erin O’Toole: China targeted me in election, says 2021 rival to Canada’s Trudeau

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Ex-leader of Conservatives says Canadian Security Intelligence briefed him on a ‘Chinese-orchestrated campaign’ to manipulate the vote

Canada’s spy agency told former Conservative party leader Erin O’Toole that China campaigned to discredit him and suppress votes ahead of the 2021 election he lost to Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, O’Toole has said.

In a briefing on Friday, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (Csis) informed O’Toole about intelligence saying Beijing had targeted him in 2021, when he was Conservative leader and running to defeat Trudeau.

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United Conservatives’ narrow Alberta win sets up conflict with Trudeau

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Party leader and Alberta premier Danielle Smith used victory speech to attack the prime minister’s climate policies

Alberta’s United Conservatives have scraped a majority government, narrowly defeating the rival New Democrats in what proved to be the province’s closest ever election.

The triumph for incumbent premier Danielle Smith foreshadows more friction between the western province and Canada’s federal government on environmental regulation, with Smith using her victory speech to attack the climate policies of the prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

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Girl, 15, charged with 19 counts of murder after fire at school in Guyana

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Police have accused the teenager of starting the blaze in a dormitory that killed 18 schoolmates and a five-year-old boy

A teenage student whom police in Guyana accuse of deliberately setting a fire in a girls’ dormitory that killed 18 schoolmates and a five-year-old boy has been charged as an adult with 19 counts of murder.

The 15-year-old girl appeared virtually at the hearing on Monday in a court south of the capital, Georgetown, and was ordered to be held in custody pending further court proceedings.

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At least 153 died in custody in El Salvador’s gang crackdown – report

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Human rights group’s 107-page report details human cost of President Nayib Bukele’s controversial ‘war on gangs’

The human cost of El Salvador’s controversial “war on gangs” has been laid bare in a new report which claims dozens of prisoners were tortured and killed in jail after being caught up in the year-long security crackdown.

The detailed 107-page report from human rights group Cristosal said at least 153 people had died in custody after being arrested as part of President Nayib Bukele’s year long offensive against the Central American country’s notorious “pandillas”.

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Nova Scotia officials declare emergency over rare and ‘very aggressive’ wildfires

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Thousands forced from their homes after spring fires destroy buildings in Canadian province

Rare and “very aggressive” spring wildfires in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia have destroyed many buildings and forced thousands from their homes and prompting officials to declare a local state of emergency.

Over the weekend, residents of the Maritime province posted video of thick smoke encroaching over Halifax as a nearby blaze rapidly swept through a suburb.

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Alberta’s party leaders are ignoring the climate crisis while the region burns

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Monday’s election is going to be a political nail-biter but neither candidate has discussed a post oil and gas world

Record-breaking wildfires have charred more than a million hectares of land in Alberta, pushing tens of thousands from their homes and choking the skies in a thick haze of smoke.

But on the zigzagging campaign trail of the province’s general election, neither party leader has confronted the realities of climate change and how it will likely dramatically reshape life in the Canadian prairies.

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Peruvian police seize 58kg of cocaine bearing pictures of Nazi flag

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Drugs found in shipment said to be destined for Belgium also had the name Hitler printed on them

Peruvian anti-drug police have seized 58 one-kilo packages of cocaine destined for Belgium bearing a picture of a Nazi flag on the outside and the name Hitler printed in low relief.

The discovery occurred in the port of Paita, on Peru’s northern Pacific coast close to its border with Ecuador.

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Outcry as Brazil congress moves to gut environment and Indigenous ministries

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Plan to drastically dilute bodies’ powers would deal severe blow to Lula’s attempt to reverse Bolsonaro’s era of Amazon devastation

Brazilian activists have voiced outrage after congress moved to drastically dilute the powers of the environment and Indigenous peoples ministries in what campaigners called a potentially crippling blow to efforts to protect Indigenous communities and the Amazon.

Hopes that Brazil could turn the page on Jair Bolsonaro’s era of Amazon devastation were sky-high after the far-right leader lost last year’s presidential election to the leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. During his campaign Lula vowed to stamp out environmental crime and champion Indigenous people, and after taking power in January put the veteran environmentalist Marina Silva in charge of environmental affairs and made the Indigenous activist Sônia Guajajara head of a new ministry for Indigenous peoples.

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‘A crime of hatred’: disgust over Brazilian mobile phone slavery game

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Game in which users were able to buy and sell enslaved people, removed from Google Play store on Wednesday, elicits horror

Brazilians have reacted with horror to the news that a mobile phone game in which players were able to buy and sell enslaved people was until recently available to download on Google Play.

Dubbed the ‘Slavery Simulator’ (Simulador de Escravidão), the disturbing game also allowed players to inflict different forms of torture on black characters.

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Canadian police solve 48-year-old case of teenager’s rape and murder using DNA

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Police say West Virginian who died 40 years ago raped and killed 16-year-old Sharron Prior in a Montreal suburb in 1975

Canadian police say they have solved one of the highest-profile cold cases in Quebec history, linking the 1975 rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl to a West Virginia man who died more than 40 years ago.

Police in Longueuil, Quebec, said that DNA evidence allows them to be 100% certain that Franklin Maywood Romine murdered teenager Sharron Prior in the Montreal suburb.

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Canadian special rapporteur rules out inquiry into Chinese interference claims

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David Johnston warns that subversive efforts represent ‘increasing threat’ to democracy but public inquiry would be the wrong choice


An official named to investigate allegations that China attempted to subvert Canadian elections has announced he will not launch a public inquiry, prompting frustration from critics who say the decision only furthers Beijing’s interests.

Special rapporteur David Johnston on Tuesday released a 55-page report on foreign interference in Canadian institutions, warning that subversive efforts represented an “increasing threat” to democracy.

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Heavy rains in Canada offer relief from wildfires but could lead to flooding

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Crews hope wet weather could be ‘turning point’ after worst start to fire season on record in which area the size of Wales has burned

Heavy rains have brought relief to western Canada, in what crews hope could be a “turning point” in a protracted fight against wildfires, but officials also warned the much-needed downpour could lead to catastrophic flooding – and fresh blazes from lightning strikes.

Officials in Alberta said that cool, wet weather over the weekend – and more forecast for the coming days – promised a respite after the worst start to a fire season on record, in which 512 wildfires have already consumed more than 945,000 hectares – surpassing the previous record 615,00 hectares for the same period in 2019.

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Bird flu: H5N1 virus in Brazil wild birds prompts animal health emergency

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Health declaration to last 180 days, as world’s biggest exporter of chicken meat detects virus for first time ever

Brazil has declared a state of animal health emergency for 180 days in response to its first ever detection of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus in wild birds.

Brazil – the world’s biggest chicken meat exporter with US$9.7bn in sales in 2022 – has so far confirmed eight cases of the H5N1 in wild birds, including seven in Espirito Santo state and one in Rio de Janeiro state.

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Highest-denomination bill in Argentina is now the 2,000-peso note, worth $4

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Country unveils new banknote as currency plummets with inflation on course to 130%

Argentina’s new 2,000-peso bill, the country’s largest-denomination note, went into circulation on Monday, though due to fast depreciation of the currency it is worth only $8.50 at the official exchange rate and just over $4 in commonly used parallel markets.

The peso has shed about a quarter of its value against the dollar this year despite strict capital controls that slow its fall. Most Argentinians buy dollars in unofficial markets where they trade at over 480 pesos versus the official rate of 235.

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School dormitory fire in Guyana kills at least 20 pupils

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Fire began shortly after midnight at school serving mostly Indigenous young people aged 12-18, say officials

At least 20 pupils have been killed in a fire in a school dormitory in Guyana, authorities have said.

The Guyanese government said in a press statement that the fire broke out in the dormitory building of a secondary school in the south-western border town of Mahdia, 200 miles (320km) south of the capital, Georgetown.

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‘I flew through the air’: Canadian cyclist recovering after collision with bear

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Kevin Milner was riding on trail north of Vancouver when black bear charged forward and sent him flipping over the handlebars

A Canadian man is suffering from a fractured scapula, cardiac contusion and bruised ribs after colliding with a bear while riding his bike north of Vancouver.

Kevin Milner was riding the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve near Vancouver when he spotted the black bear in the grass. Wildlife, including deer, is common along the thickly forested double-track.

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At least 12 people dead after crowd crush at football stadium in El Salvador

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  • Incident occurred at the Estadio Cuscatlán in San Salvador
  • President Nayib Bukele pledges ‘thorough investigation’

At least 12 people have died with more than 100 injured in a crowd crush at a football stadium in El Salvador on Saturday, the Central American country’s government has confirmed.

Alianza FC and Club Deportivo Fas were playing the second leg of their playoff quarter-final game at the Estadio Cuscatlán in San Salvador, the country’s capital, when play was suspended after 16 minutes.

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Ex-chief of Brazil’s Indigenous agency charged over murders of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips

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Marcelo Xavier accused of indirectly contributing on the grounds that he failed to take steps to protect workers in Amazon

Federal police have brought criminal charges against the former head of Brazil’s Indigenous protection agency for alleged acts of omission they believe indirectly paved the way for the murders of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips in the Amazon last year.

Brazil’s former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro made Marcelo Xavier the head of the Indigenous agency Funai in July 2019, six months into his environmentally devastating four-year administration.

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