The Cuban Collapse – a photo essay

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.

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Peru: Six dead as powerful cyclone causes major flooding

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.

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Canada: inquiry into police unit accused of excessive force against green activists

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.

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Record deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest shows challenge facing Lula

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.

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Giving the middle finger is a ‘God-given right’, Canadian judge rules

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.

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Alleged perpetrators of attack on four Americans dumped on Mexican street

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.”

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‘A win for Jamaica’: 15 people convicted in landmark gang-busting trial

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.

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Toronto dog owners bite back after city posts ‘no barking’ sign at pooch park

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.

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Trudeau faces fury of Canadian MPs over alleged Chinese election meddling

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.

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Chile airport authorities foil $32.5m heist amid ‘intense exchange of gunfire’

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.

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Clive Lewis calls for UK to negotiate Caribbean slavery reparations

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”.

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Two Americans kidnapped in Mexico found dead, officials say

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.

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YouTuber recreates Rosalía show after singer’s tour skips Peru – and sells out

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.

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Canada roiled by leaked intelligence reports of Chinese election ‘meddling’

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.

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Gunmen kidnap US citizens who crossed into Mexico to buy medicine

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.

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Southwest Airlines plane hits birds and makes emergency landing in Cuba

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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‘A part of winter is missing’: Ottawa grieves over lack of canal ice for skating

Rideau has not turned into world’s long ice rink as usual, laying bare unpredictable realities of climate crisis

Every winter for more than two decades, Chris Macknie has laced up boots, clipped on skis or slipped on running shoes to compete in Ottawa’s Winterlude triathlon.

The event, held in dead of winter, has hundreds skate along the frozen Rideau canal, swapping out their blades for nordic skis and then finish with a run.

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Man lost in Amazon for a month says he ate worms and drank own urine to survive

Bolivian man says it helped that he knew survival techniques after becoming separated from friends on hunting trip in January

A Bolivian man who claimed to have been missing in the Amazon alone for a month has recounted eating insects and worms, collecting water in his boots and drinking his own urine to stay alive.

If confirmed, this could make Jhonatan Acosta, 30, one of the longest-ever lone Amazon survivors.

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New Easter Island moai statue discovered in volcano crater

The 1.6-metre statue has been described as ‘full-bodied with recognisable features but no clear definition’

A new moai – one of Easter Island’s iconic monolithic statues – has been found in the bed of a dry lake in a volcano crater, the Indigenous community that administers the site on the Chilean island has said.

The statue was found on 21 February by a team of scientific volunteers from three Chilean universities who were collaborating on a project to restore the marshland in the crater inside the Rano Raraku volcano.

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‘Havana syndrome’ not caused by foreign adversary, US intelligence says

The involvement of overseas foes in ‘anomalous health incidents’ suffered by US diplomats and spies was deemed ‘very unlikely’

The mysterious set of symptoms known as “Havana syndrome” was not caused by an energy weapon or foreign adversary, US intelligence has concluded.

The assessment concludes a multi-year investigation into approximately 1,000 “anomalous health incidents” (AHIs) among US diplomats, spies and other employees in US embassies and missions around the world.

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