Category Archives: Americas

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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Indigenous nation in US seeks to block billion-dollar port project in Canada

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Lummi Nation in Washington state says it holds transboundary rights and that Canada has failed to ‘consult and accommodate’

A tribal nation in the United States is seeking to block approval for a multibillion dollar port expansion in Canada, arguing that it holds transboundary rights and should have been included in consultation process.

The effort to block approval of a controversial new container terminal project in Vancouver marks the first major attempt to use a recent landmark decision by the Canadian supreme court, which found that some Indigenous peoples living in the US have rights in Canada.

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Colombian elite backed death squads, former paramilitary commander says

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Salvatore Mancuso testified to peace tribunal that rightwing AUC worked hand in glove with business, military and political elite

A notorious former commander of Colombia’s largest paramilitary group has revealed new details of how rightwing death squads worked side by side with the country’s business, military and political elite to sow terror in the countryside and wipe out leftwing insurgencies.

Salvatore Mancuso told Colombia’s peace tribunal this week that state institutions were not only complicit in the expansion of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) but actively coordinated with them, giving orders to wipe out anyone suspected of aligning with communist rebels.

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Trudeau’s wide-stance pose with Korean politician splits critics

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Korean media praises prime minister’s gesture, known as ‘manner legs’, while some Canadians say it is embarrassing country

Justin Trudeau’s hair has made international headlines, as have his fumbling handshakes and propensity to appear shirtless when cameras are near. Now, the Canadian prime minister’s well-mannered legs are getting their moment in the spotlight

Ahead of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Trudeau and a delegation of Canadian ministers were in South Korea to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, as well as an attempt to salvage a multibillion-dollar battery plant deal.

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US airline ‘sincerely apologizes’ to family over Puerto Rico passport error

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Spirit Airlines agent refused to let Puerto Rican family board plane from Los Angeles, even though passport is not required

Spirit Airlines refused to allow a Puerto Rican family to board a flight from Los Angeles to Puerto Rico because they did not have a passport for their two-year old child.

Speaking to CBS, Marivi Roman Torres, who was traveling with her husband, Luís, and son, Alejandro, said the problem occurred at the ticket counter.

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‘No one is untouchable’: Montreal mob-related killing sparks worry of gang war

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Claudia Iacono, who was married to son of the late boss Moreno Gallo, was shot dead in her car outside the spa she owned

The brazen daylight shooting death of a Montreal mob boss’s daughter-in-law suggests “no one is untouchable”, said an organized crime expert, as the city braces for potential retaliation.

A woman’s body with several gunshot wounds was found in car on Tuesday. Local reports named the victim as Claudia Iacono, 39.

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Jeep maker Stellantis demands billions to keep battery plant in Canada

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World’s fourth biggest carmaker threatens to move production to US unless government matches incentives offered to Volkswagen

Jeep maker Stellantis has threatened to shift a planned battery plant from Canada to the US unless it receives billions more in state subsidies offered to a rival, in the latest manoeuvre by a big manufacturer in the international battle over green incentives.

It comes as the world’s fourth biggest carmaker, which also produces Vauxhall/Opel, Fiat, Citroën, Peugeot, DS, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Abarth vehicles, leads a campaign in Europe for the UK and EU to renegotiate tariff rules in the Brexit deal.

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Dispute in Colombia over whether children found alive in jungle weeks after plane crash

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President spoke of ‘joy for the country’ after four children had been found two weeks after crash, but military sources say they have no confirmation of the news

There was confusion over whether four children from an Indigenous community in Colombia had been found alive following a plane crash, after claims from the country’s president that they had been located were contradicted by military sources.

The children have been missing for more than two weeks after the plane they were travelling in crashed in the dense jungle of Colombia’s Caqueta province, president Gustavo Petro has said.

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Ecuador’s embattled president dissolves congress in bid to avoid impeachment

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Guillermo Lasso announces move a day after the start of an impeachment trial that seems likely to lead to his removal

Ecuador’s embattled president, Guillermo Lasso, has dissolved congress in an attempt to escape impeachment – a radical maneuver that comes amid a backdrop of wider democratic backsliding and political turbulence across Latin America.

Lasso announced the dramatic move on Wednesday morning, a day after the start of an impeachment trial that seemed likely to lead to his removal from power in the coming days.

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Could Guyana’s Exxon ruling scare big oil off risky exploration?

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Ruling requiring ‘unlimited guarantee’ from oil firms to cover costs of spills could change offshore drilling throughout region

A ruling from Guyana’s high court could change the face of offshore oil drilling throughout the Caribbean, according to financial and legal analysts.

The ruling ordered the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require an independent liability insurance policy from Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) and an “unlimited guarantee” from its parent company, ExxonMobil, in the case of any damage caused by the company’s oil and gas development in the country.

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Fowl play: errant chicken delays Mexico City metro service

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The latest transit system mishap comes after a series of incidents that city officials have claimed were sabotage

Service was temporarily halted on one of Mexico City’s metro system this week after a chicken got loose on the tracks.

Video posted by the Metro on Tuesday showed maintenance personnel and civil defense officers in hard hats chasing the errant fowl around the tracks with brooms, gloves and a trash bag.

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Canada: dry weather and shifting winds threaten to spread Alberta wildfires

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Province has 90 actives blazes, 23 of which are out of control, with thousands evacuated and oil and gas production hit

Tinder-dry weather and shifting winds in western Canada have elevated the risk of spreading wildfires in the province of Alberta where thousands have already been forced from their homes.

About 90 wildfires are active in Alberta, with 23 out of control, according to the provincial government. At one point the fires pushed more than 30,000 people out of their homes while oil and gas producers shut in at least 319,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or 3.7% of national production.

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Toronto mayor’s race draws more than 100 candidates – including one dog

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Former police chief, comedian and rescue dog Molly among those vying to replace John Tory, who resigned in February over an affair

More than 100 candidates, including a former police chief, a comedian and a dog, are all vying for the chance to be mayor of Canada’s largest city.

One hundred and two prospective mayors formally registered before Friday’s deadline as candidates in the mayoral byelection at the end of June.

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Weather tracker: Cyclone Mocha batters Bangladesh and Myanmar

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Refugee camps bear brunt of deadly category-5 storm, while temperature divide is expected in North America

Cyclone Mocha brought strong winds and torrential rain to parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar on Sunday, with refugee camps bearing the brunt of the category-5 storm, leaving at least five dead and causing half a million people to be evacuated.

The region was rocked by sustained winds of more than 160mph as Mocha made landfall, whipping up gusts closer to 200mph and a storm surge of up to 4 metres. The world’s largest refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar, was badly hit and more than 1,300 shelters were destroyed. Heavy rain triggered landslides and floods.

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Vice files for bankruptcy protection amid cut-price sale to consortium

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Digital publisher and owner of Vice News and Vice TV was once valued at $6bn but has agreed sale for $225m

Vice, the once high-flying media startup that reached a peak valuation of nearly $6bn (£5bn), has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US as the digital publisher engineers a cut-price sale to a group of lenders.

The company, whose assets include Vice News, Motherboard, Refinery29 and Vice TV, has agreed a sale to a consortium that includes Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital for $225m in the form of a credit bid for its assets as well as assuming Vice’s “significant liabilities”.

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