Category Archives: Americas

‘Moment of reckoning’: Queen’s death fuels Jamaica’s republican movement

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Ascension of King Charles III has prompted renewed questioning of a British monarch as head of state

In a crisp black suit, white shirt and black tie, Daniel Pryce reached the end of a mile-long driveway flanked by palm trees and clipped lawns. He had come to King’s House to perform his duty, as he put it, by signing a book of condolence for the Queen, whom he served as equerry on her final visit to Jamaica in 2002.

“The very last moment of that visit, as she was about to alight the aircraft, she turned around and she shook my hand and she said ‘Thank you, Daniel’,” the 58-year-old recalled on Tuesday as flags flew at half mast in serene sunshine. “It was the first time she referred to me by my first name and that was special for me.”

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Retired Mexican general arrested over disappearance of 43 students in 2014

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Ex-officer was head of army base in Iguala when students were abducted in what a report called a ‘state crime’

Mexican authorities have arrested a retired general and two other members of the army for alleged links to the disappearance of 43 students in the south of the country in 2014.

The assistant public safety secretary, Ricardo Mejia, said that among those arrested was the former officer who commanded the army base in the Guerrero state city of Iguala in September 2014, when the students from a radical teachers’ college were abducted.

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Michelin hands out stars to 13 Toronto restaurants as city gets first guide

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Twelve restaurants received one star and one restaurant received two as Toronto becomes the first Canadian city to be featured

Toronto has finally sealed its reputation as an international culinary destination after 13 of its restaurants received Michelin stars for quality – the first time a Canadian city has ever featured in the prestigious guide.

Canada’s largest city has long been keen to compete on the world stage, and many residents were thrilled when the French publication announced in May it would include Toronto in its upcoming guide.

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‘Our lives are destroyed’: families take fight for truth of flight 752 to ICC

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Exclusive: grieving relatives allege war crime and crime against humanity over January 2020 downing of aircraft

When Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 was shot down over Tehran by Iranian anti-aircraft missiles in January 2020, killing all 176 people on board, it was just the beginning of the ordeal for the victims’ families.

In the 32 months since, they have faced obstruction and hostility from the Iranian authorities, which initially sought to deny their forces were responsible. When bodies were finally returned, they were often mixed with the remains of other victims, the personal effects of the dead were looted, and in some instances their funerals were commandeered by the Tehran regime for propaganda purposes. Grieving relatives have been assaulted, harassed and threatened.

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Canada’s federal holiday to mourn the Queen leaves a patchwork of confusion

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Some provinces will give only government employees the day off, some give all workers a holiday, others will remain open

On Canada’s east and west coasts, schools and government offices will be closed on the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral. But in the two most populous provinces, employees will be at work – unless they are federal employees. Banks and other federal industries, however, have been given the option to close – or to remain open.

On Tuesday, the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, declared 19 September a federal holiday. But the ensuing chaos of determining who qualifies for the holiday has left workers confused across the country.

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Trudeau declares federal holiday for Queen’s funeral – but most Canadians will have to work

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Employees under provincial jurisdiction – the vast majority of Canadian workers – are not affected by the declaration

Justin Trudeau has declared a federal holiday for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, granting a handful of employees across Canada a day off.

But because most workers fall under provincial jurisdiction, much of the country was given little indication if they’re expected to show up to work Monday.

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Third person arrested in Argentina over attempt to assassinate vice-president

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Agustina Díaz was arrested reportedly after a forensic examination of Brenda Uliarte’s phone revealed messages regarding the attack

A third suspect has been arrested over the attempted assassination of Argentina’s vice-president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, as investigators pursue suspicions that the attack was not the act of a lone gunman.

Fernández was unharmed during the incident on 1 September, when Fernando Andrés Sabag Montiel, 35, pulled the trigger of his handgun inches away from her face. The gun failed to fire, and the vice-president’s supporters quickly subdued the would-be assassin.

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Two Haitian journalists killed while reporting in slum controlled by gangs

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Tayson Latigue and Frantzsen Charles were among seven journalists who came under attack on Sunday

Two Haitian reporters have been shot dead and their bodies set on fire while reporting in a slum controlled by gangs in the capital, in the second such killing this year.

Tayson Latigue and Frantzsen Charles were among seven journalists who came under attack on Sunday in the Cité Soleil district of Port-au-Prince. They were investigating worsening violence in the area, including the recent killing of a 17-year-old girl, according to a statement from Haiti’s Association of Independent Journalists.

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Deadly rampage in Canada follows ‘ambush’ of Toronto police officer

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Suspect killed by police after standoff in Hamilton cemetery after constable among two killed and three seriously wounded

A Toronto police officer was shot dead in an unprovoked “ambush” before a gunman killed another man and left three others with serious injuries in a deadly rampage on Monday afternoon. The suspect was later killed in a cemetery following a standoff with police.

The attacks began around 2pm on Monday, at a Tim Hortons restaurant in the city of Mississauga, west of Toronto. Constable Andrew Hong, a 48-year-old traffic services officer, was on his lunch break from a joint training exercise when he was shot and killed at close range by the gunman. Another person was shot and left with “life-altering” injuries.

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Canadian advocates pledge to continue selling pure drugs amid overdose crisis

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Over the last six years, the vast majority of overdose deaths in British Columbia have been driven by impurities in street drugs

A Canadian advocacy group has pledged to continue selling cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin to users, in defiance of a federal government order to stop, arguing that their plan is the only way to save lives amid a nationwide drugs crisis.

Over the last six years, more than 10,000 people have died from drug overdoses in the province of British Columbia, with the vast majority of deaths driven by impurities in street drugs.

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Mexican rebels donate museum money for canoes to refugee rescues

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Madrid museum buys three hand-carved canoes from Zapatistas, with proceeds going to Open Arms NGO

Three exquisitely decorated canoes hand-carved in the jungles of southern Mexico and borne across the Atlantic on a ship tasked with a peaceful, symbolic – and cumbia-soundtracked – invasion of Spain could soon find a permanent mooring in the heart of Madrid.

More importantly, proceeds from the sale of the small boats could help save some of the tens of thousands of men, women and children who risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean each year.

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Antigua and Barbuda to hold republic referendum within three years, says PM

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Prime minister Gaston Browne reiterates plan for referendum in wake of Queen’s death

The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, has said he will call for a referendum on the country becoming a republic within three years, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Browne signed a document confirming Charles III’s status as the new King, but minutes later, said he would push for a republic referendum after indicating such a move earlier this year during a visit by the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

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Prime minister of Barbados says King Charles is a ‘man ahead of his time’

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Mia Mottley praised his environmental and social commitment and noted his recognition of the atrocities of slavery

The prime minister of Barbados, which became the world’s newest republic after removing the Queen as its head of state last year, has described King Charles III as a “man ahead of his time” because of his environmental views and commitment to young people, and noted his recent recognition of the atrocities of slavery.

Speaking to the BBC World Service programme The Newsroom on Saturday, Mia Mottley also paid tribute to the Queen, who congratulated the Caribbean island on a “momentous” day when it became a republic in November last year.

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King Charles’s ascension ignites debate over royals across Commonwealth

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Head of state role in doubt in realms from Jamaica to New Zealand after death of Queen Elizabeth II

King Charles’s ascension to the throne has reignited a debate over whether the royal family deserves a global role in the 21st century, no more so than in the 14 Commonwealth realms where the British monarch remains the head of state.

A legacy of empire and slavery that was entwined with British royalty for centuries has raised tough questions about the place of a foreign king, and republican movements from the Pacific to North America to the Caribbean will be assessing whether they should seize the moment.

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Bolsonaro fan stabs Lula supporter as Brazil election turns deadly

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Political violence breaks out in Mato Grosso state after argument between followers of rival presidential candidates

A supporter of Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has stabbed to death a backer of leftist former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in the latest instance of rising political tensions in the buildup to this year’s election.

The violence happened in the west-central state of Mato Grosso, after tempers frayed during an argument over support for the two candidates. Bolsonaro trails Lula in the polls in an election riven by intense polarisation.

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King and country: brief delay as new Canadians swear oath to Charles III

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Citizenship ceremony starts belatedly as officials adapt oath in moments following death of Queen Elizabeth II

Roberto Rocha was huddled with three others around a computer screen, as one of the friends prepared to become a Canadian citizen.

The pandemic had derailed the pomp of an in-person swearing-in ceremony, leaving 140 excited, polite faces to meet instead on a Zoom screen.

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Weather tracker: US heatwave breaks September temperature record

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New September temperature record reaches 107F or 41.7C in Salt Lake City, Utah

Through this week, the heatwave in the US has been continuing, allowing more September records to fall. Salt Lake City in Utah saw its September temperature record broken, with each day hotter than the last, until the current highest ever September temperature was recorded on Wednesday. The new September record is now 107F or 41.7C, which astonishingly is also tied as the all-time temperature record for Salt Lake City. It is extraordinary to record a tied record high temperature in meteorological autumn.

Farther south earlier this week, the tropical storm off the west coast of Mexico, previously Twelve-E, developed into a category 2 hurricane, bringing sustained winds of 100mph, and was named Hurricane Kay. The hurricane brought intense flooding all the way up the west coast of Mexico, from Oaxaca to Nayarit by Thursday 8 September. In the last 48 hours, Kay has weakened into a tropical storm, but continues to bring extreme rain in its path, across the Baja California Peninsula and up towards the US state of California.

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‘Canada is in mourning,’ says Justin Trudeau after death of Queen

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PM hails ‘one of my favourite people in the world’ but death set to prompt questions about institution whose popularity is in decline

Justin Trudeau has expressed his condolences over the death of Queen Elizabeth II, telling reporters that that monarch, who was also Canada’s head of state, was “one of my favourite people in the world”.

“In a complicated world, her steady grace and resolve brought comfort and strength to us all. Canada is in mourning,” said Trudeau, who first met the Queen as a child when his father Pierre was prime minister.

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Suspect arrested over Canada mass stabbing dies from self-inflicted injuries

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Myles Sanderson went into ‘medical distress’ after his arrest, and later died in hospital, say police

The fugitive wanted over a mass stabbing in Canada that killed 10 people and injured 18 has died in hospital after his arrest, police have confirmed, with sources saying his death was the result of self-inflicted wounds.

Myles Sanderson went into “medical distress” after his arrest and was taken to hospital where he died, Royal Canadian Mounted police assistant commissioner Rhonda Blackmore said in a press conference on Wednesday night. Police found a knife in the truck, which officers had rammed off the road into a ditch, but Blackmore would not comment on the cause of his death.

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A veteran, a mother, a widower: police name victims of Canada stabbing

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Province of Saskatchewan releases names of victims in Sunday’s rampage as police arrest fugitive brother Myles Sanderson

A beloved veteran described as a “hero”, an elder who served as an addictions counsellor, a mother of five and a widower who spent his days volunteering are among the 10 victims of Sunday’s deadly knife attack in western Canada.

Police in the province of Saskatchewan have named the victims of Sunday’s stabbing rampage, their ages ranging from 23 to 78.

Thomas Burns, 23

Carol Burns, 46

Gregory Burns, 28

Lydia Gloria Burns, 61

Bonnie Burns, 48

Earl Burns, 66

Lana Head, 49

Christian Head, 54

Robert Sanderson, 49

Wesley Petterson, 78

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