Military video shows boat moving swiftly in water before explosion leaves it in flames
The US military said on Sunday three men were killed when it struck a boat it claimed was “engaged in narco-trafficking operations” in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
This latest strike – which follows dozens of similar attacks on alleged drug boats in recent months – brings the US campaign’s death toll to at least 185, according to a tally compiled by Agence France-Presse.
Continue reading...The court sided with a Canadian hiker who deliberately challenged the order imposed to curb spread of wildfires
As wildfires raged across Nova Scotia last summer, the Canadian province made a simple plea to residents: stay away from the woods.
As the situation deteriorated, authorities turned the request into a prohibition: anyone caught hiking under the shade of the forest canopy faced a C$25,000 fine – a figure more than half the average worker’s yearly salary.
Continue reading...Small boat destroyed in video posted on social media as US campaign has killed at least 178 people since September
The US military announced on Friday that it killed two people in an attack on a boat in the eastern Pacific, part of a series of deadly strikes on vessels in recent months which it claims are targeting “narco-trafficking” operations.
The US Southern Command declared in a social media post on X that Gen Francis L Donovan directed Joint Task Force Southern Spear, the counter-narcotics unit that operates in the region, to carry out a lethal strike. The US military posted a video, which it labeled unclassified, showing a small boat being destroyed in an explosion.
Continue reading...Languorous tree dwellers from Guyana and Peru died from ‘cold stun’ in warehouse with no power or running water
Wildlife officials in Florida said in a newly released report that dozens of sloths taken from South American rainforests for display at a controversial new tourist attraction in Orlando died in the care of their new owners.
An incident report from the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC) said that 31 of the mammals procured from Peru and Guyana by the owners of a forthcoming attraction called Sloth World perished in a storage warehouse more than a year ago, between December 2024 and February 2025.
Continue reading...Prosecutors say 43 people indicted on charges including murder, kidnapping, extortion and drug trafficking
More than two dozen members and associates of the Mexican mafia were arrested during an early morning crackdown in southern California, federal authorities said on Thursday.
The FBI and other federal and local agencies executed search and arrest warrants at locations mostly in Orange county, south of Los Angeles, according to the US attorney’s office.
Continue reading...Human rights groups have warned that the collective prosecutions violate due process and block defendants from accessing legal counsel
A Salvadoran court on Tuesday began a collective trial of 486 alleged gang members, in one of the biggest mass trials under president Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on gang violence through controversial emergency powers.
Prosecutors say the charges against alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, or MS-13, span more than 47,000 crimes committed between 2012 and 2022, including a weekend that was El Salvador’s bloodiest since its civil war.
Continue reading...Research shows natural hazards linked to climate crisis disrupted 23 elections in 18 countries in 2024
Democracy is under mounting threat from the climate crisis, with new analysis documenting how elections are increasingly shaped not only by political forces but also by floods, wildfires and extreme weather.
At least 94 elections and referendums across 52 countries have been disrupted by climate-related impacts over the last two decades, researchers found.
Continue reading...Conservatives and former provincial premiers among those PM names to advisory committee on economic relations
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, says his new advisory committee on economic relations with the United States will draw on the “best advice and the broadest perspectives” as the country braces for what many expect will be tense trade negotiations with its southern neighbour.
The 24-member advisory committee, announced on Tuesday, shows the prime minister’s eagerness to reach across the political spectrum to ensure Canada is “well positioned to advance its interests” at the looming trade talks.
Continue reading...At least four more injured at world heritage site in latest violent incident as country prepares to co-host World Cup
One Canadian tourist has been killed and six other people were wounded by gunfire after an armed man opened fire at one of Mexico’s most famous tourist destinations, the Teotihuacán pyramids near Mexico City.
The shooting – the latest violent incident to affect Mexico as it prepares to co-host the football World Cup in June – took place on Monday lunchtime and was captured in mobile phone videos.
Continue reading...Prime minister details efforts to attract investment and sign trade deals with other countries in 10-minute video address
Canada’s strong economic ties to the United States were once a strength but are now a weakness that must be corrected, the country’s prime minister has warned
In a 10-minute video address, Mark Carney spoke about his government’s efforts to strengthen the Canadian economy by attracting new investments and signing trade deals with other countries.
Continue reading...Director of state investigation agency among those killed in Chihuahua in operation to destroy clandestine drug labs
Two United States officials and another two Mexican officials assigned to combat drug cartel operations died in a car accident in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua on Sunday, a US embassy spokesperson said.
The Mexican officials were the director of the state’s investigation agency and an officer, state authorities said, adding that they were on an operation to destroy clandestine laboratories in the municipality of Morelos.
Continue reading...Jeremy Hansen praised for speaking French in space after Air Canada chief’s linguistic snub exposed tensions and drew rebuke from PM
Few people foresaw humanity’s quest for the moon as accurately as the 19th-century French author Jules Verne, whose two works –From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon – anticipated many of the features of modern lunar exploration.
But Verne’s language had never been spoken in deep space until the Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen uttered four words during Nasa’s recent Artemis II mission.
Continue reading...Spirit Airlines reportedly seeks emergency US government funding as war against Iran keeps aviation fuel costs high
Air Canada has announced a temporary suspension of flights from Toronto and Montreal to New York’s John F Kennedy airport, citing rising fuel prices.
The move comes amid growing concerns that airlines worldwide may scale back services as aviation fuel costs climb in the wake of the US and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran, which entered a fragile ceasefire earlier in April. Although Iran announced on Friday that the strait of Hormuz had reopened, helping ease oil prices, fuel costs remain significantly elevated after weeks of disruption.
Continue reading...Pedro Piscal pisco is latest Chilean brand to resemble a Hollywood name – and others have fought off the lawsuits
The actor Pedro Pascal is waging a legal battle against a Chilean pisco merchant who has chosen a cheeky name for his brand of the country’s national spirit: Pedro Piscal.
David Herrera registered the brand name with a Chilean commercial regulator in 2023 and began selling his pisco in off-licences and restaurants.
Continue reading...Wednesday’s strike brings the total of those killed in US military strikes on alleged drug boats to at least 177
Three people were killed in a US strike on another alleged drug-trafficking boat, the fifth such deadly attack in as many days, military officials have announced.
US southern command said it conducted “a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations” in the eastern Pacific, without naming the alleged group, in an X post.
Continue reading...Sheinbaum has recently been taking a firmer stance with the US, defying pressures where other countries have caved
The Mexican government has voiced concern about the deaths of its citizens in US custody, with Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum also pushing back against the Trump administration’s decision to impose an energy blockade on Cuba.
The progressive Mexican leader has walked a careful line with Trump for more than a year, addressing provocations with a measured tone and meeting US requests to crack down on cartels more so than her predecessors, in an effort to offset threats of tariffs and US military action against gangs.
Continue reading...Byelection wins and defections push Canada’s Liberals into majority government under the prime minister
Mark Carney has said he will govern with “humility, determination and a clear understanding of what this moment demands” after his Liberals swept three byelections Monday evening, forging a parliamentary majority just more than a year after he took power.
Carney has achieved only the third majority government in two decades – and has done so in a highly unusual fashion, cobbling together both ballot box wins and defections from rival parties.
Continue reading...Brian Hooker told police that Lynette Hooker fell overboard and that strong currents carried her away
Police in the Bahamas have released without charges a Michigan man who said his wife disappeared after falling overboard from a small boat in waters off the Caribbean island country, authorities said on Monday.
Brian Hooker, of Onsted in southern Michigan, had been in police custody since 8 April – five days – after being questioned by authorities.
Continue reading...Carney’s Liberals will now be able to pass legislation without the support of opposition parties – and govern until 2029
The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has secured a parliamentary majority for his Liberal government, CBC News reported. The victory will help him push through a legislative agenda he says is needed for an increasingly divided geopolitical world.
Three special elections were held on Monday in Ontario and Quebec, with two in districts – known as ridings – that have long voted Liberal.
Continue reading...Brian Hooker says wife Lynette fell overboard from dinghy but family members have cast doubt on that account
Police in the Bahamas on Monday were set to again interview a US man who said his wife fell overboard from their boat.
In a statement on Sunday to the Guardian, Brian Hooker’s attorney, Terrel Butler, said: “The police have requested another interview with [Brian Hooker] tomorrow.”
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