Quebec man charged with terrorism over alleged Haiti coup plot

Gerald Nicolas, 51, accused of conspiring to overthrow government of Jovenel Moïse, who was later assassinated in separate plot

Canadian police have charged a Quebec man with terrorism over allegations he conspired to overthrow the government of the late Haitian president Jovenel Moïse, who was later assassinated in a separate plot.

Gerald Nicolas, 51, stands accused of leaving Canada to facilitate a terrorist activity, facilitating a terrorist activity and providing property for terrorist purposes, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said on Thursday.

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‘Asking an arsonist to put out a fire’: climate offender Maduro makes Cop27 comeback

Despite an abysmal environmental and human rights record, Venezuela’s president is back on the international stage

It is unclear whether Cop27 will have any real impact on efforts to halt climate change but one leader is likely to return from the international summit feeling that the trip to Egypt was well worth it: the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro.

After years of being frozen out of international relations the Latin American dictator used Cop27 to clearly – if controversially – demonstrate that he is back on the international stage.

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Lula vows to undo environmental degradation and halt deforestation

President-elect says he will work to save Amazon rainforest and key ecosystems in rousing Cop27 speech

President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has told the world that “Brazil is back” at Cop27, vowing to begin undoing the environmental destruction seen under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, and work towards zero deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.

Followed by a carnival atmosphere wherever he went on Wednesday, Lula told the climate summit that his administration would go further than ever before on the environment by cracking down on illegal gold mining, logging and agricultural expansion, and restoring climate-critical ecosystems.

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Xi angrily rebukes Trudeau over ‘leaks’ to media about Canada-China relations

Chinese president’s testy remarks about briefings on earlier conversation captured by media pool at G20 summit in Indonesia

Xi Jinping has angrily rebuked Justin Trudeau after Canadian officials shared details of a previous meeting, highlighting the frosty relationship between the two leaders.

In a clip recorded by the media pool at the G20 summit in Indonesia, a visibly frustrated Xi pulls the Canadian prime minister aside and says it was “not appropriate” for details about a previous conversation between the two leaders to have been shared with media, suggesting Trudeau lacked “sincerity” in his approach.

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Trudeau raises ‘serious concerns’ about Chinese interference in talks with Xi

Canadian prime minister met China’s president at G20 summit in Bali amid tensions over aggressive interventions by Beijing

Justin Trudeau has raised “serious concerns” over suspected domestic interference by China in his first talks with President Xi Jinping in more than three years, amid growing frustration over increasingly aggressive interventions by Beijing.

Trudeau discussed his concerns about Chinese “interference activities” in Canada on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali, a government source told AFP.

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Canada says imports of children’s fever medication will ease shortage

Health Canada says it secured a foreign supply of children’s acetaminophen that will be for sale ‘in the coming weeks’

Canada’s public health agency has said that foreign shipments of children’s fever medication will help ease a nationwide shortage that has left families desperate and hospitals overwhelmed.

“We are announcing that we have secured foreign supply of children’s acetaminophen that will be available for sale at retail and in community pharmacies in the coming weeks,” Health Canada said in a release on Monday.

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Lula faces backlash after flying to Cop27 on millionaire’s private jet

Brazil president-elect’s decision to fly on a jet owned by a health industry mogul criticised by both opponents and supporters

Brazil’s president-elect has faced a backlash at home after flying to the Cop27 environmental summit on a private jet owned by a millionaire businessman.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected on 30 October and has vowed to undo much of the environmental damage wrought by the outgoing far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro.

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China circles El Salvador’s economy as country edges toward crypto plunge

President Nayib Bukele bet on bitcoin and its tumbling value has put the Central American country in a financially precarious spot

As crypto-Twitter cascaded with apocalyptic memes about the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the sharp drop in the bitcoin price, one account has remained notably silent on the topic.

Unlike in previous crashes, the president of El Savlador, Nayib Bukele, who made bitcoin legal tender a year ago, did not exhort his followers to “buy the dip”. The laser eyes, popular among crypto currency traders, have long since been removed from his Twitter profile.

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Sam Bankman-Fried’s $40m Bahamas penthouse reportedly up for sale

Entrepreneur at center of FTX scandal put luxury residence up for sale the same day crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy

Sam Bankman-Fried, the crypto trader entrepreneur at the center of the FTX scandal, reportedly put his luxury $40m Bahamas penthouse up for sale on Friday – the same day the cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy.

Bankman-Fried’s penthouse – “the Orchid”, located in Albany, an exclusive private community in Nassau – was listed by real estate agent Seaside Bahamas at $39,500,000. The offering was first reported on Twitter by Autism Capital.

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Canada charges electric vehicle battery researcher with espionage for China

Yuesheng Wang, a worker at Quebec’s power utility, is accused of sending trade secrets to China

Canada’s federal police have charged an electric vehicle battery researcher at Quebec’s power utility with espionage, alleging the worker was covertly sending trade secrets to China.

The arrest of Yuesheng Wang, 35, comes as Canada grapples with a barrage of accusations of Chinese interference, including allegations of meddling in its federal elections, as well as reports of secret “police stations” in the country’s largest city.

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Peruvian Amazon Indigenous leaders to lobby banks to cut ties with state oil firm

Leaders from Achuar and Wampis peoples say Petroperú is responsible for spills in their territory

Native leaders from the Peruvian Amazon are to travel to the US this week to lobby banks to cut financial ties with Peru’s state oil company, Petroperú.

Leaders from the Achuar and Wampis peoples say the state company is responsible for oil spills in their territory that violate their human rights by polluting their water sources and irreparably damaging their fishing and hunting grounds.

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Former Brazilian congresswoman guilty of ordering husband’s murder

Celebrity gospel singer Flordelis dos Santos de Souza, famous for her 55 children, given 50-year jail sentence

A former Brazilian congresswoman has been found guilty of ordering the murder of her preacher husband and sentenced to 50 years and 28 days in prison, bringing an end to one of the most sensational crimes in recent Brazilian history.

The celebrity gospel singer Flordelis dos Santos de Souza, known as Flordelis, was also found guilty on Sunday of associated crimes, including unsuccessfully attempting to poison Anderson do Carmo with cyanide at least six times before giving up and arranging his killing.

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Weather tracker: unusual cold and snow spreading across North America

Temperatures in Canada dropped by as much as 20C below normal this week

Significant cold is spreading widely across North America this weekend, having already affected northern and western parts so far this week.

During the night of 9 November, temperatures across central and western provinces of Canada, as well as many western states of the US, plummeted to at least 10C (18F) below normal, with some parts of Canada seeing temperatures as low as 20C (36F) below normal.

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FTX assets frozen by Bahamas regulator as crypto exchange fights for survival

Founder Sam Bankman-Fried races to find funds to fill multibillion-dollar hole in exchange

The Bahamas securities regulator has frozen the assets of the Bahamas subsidiary of FTX, as the world’s second largest cryptocurrency exchange struggles for survival.

The Securities Commission of the Bahamas said on Thursday it had frozen the assets of FTX Digital Markets and related parties, as well appointing a liquidator for the unit.

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Body found in Chilean desert after search for missing UK astronomer

Prof Tom Marsh, 60, who had been missing since 16 September, described as ‘inspirational academic and mentor’

A body has been found in the Chilean desert after a search was launched for missing astronomer Prof Tom Marsh, Warwick University has said.

Marsh, 60, disappeared on 16 September while working at La Silla Observatory on the outskirts of the Atacama desert.

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Three US tourists found dead in Mexico City Airbnb from carbon monoxide

Friends, who were there to celebrate Day of the Dead holiday, died from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning last week, officials say

Three American tourists were found dead last week in a Mexico City Airbnb apartment they were renting after apparent carbon monoxide poisoning, Mexican authorities confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday.

Friends Kandace Florence, Jordan Marshall and Courtez Hall were visiting the Mexican capital to celebrate the Day of the Dead holiday, according to US news site WAVY, based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where Florence and Marshall were from.

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Brazil military finds no evidence of election fraud, dashing hopes of Bolsonaro supporters

Jair Bolsonaro frequently raised doubts about integrity of election in the run-up to his loss to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

A much-awaited report by Brazil’s Defence Ministry has failed to indicate recent ballots were fraudulent, scuppering the far-right’s hopes of delegitimising the election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The military sent the 63-page report to Brazil’s electoral authorities late on Wednesday after days of speculation that it would back claims by extremist president Jair Bolsonaro that the election was tainted.

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China ‘increasingly disruptive global power’, says Canadian foreign minister

Mélanie Joly hints at new Indo-Pacific strategy and asks firms to be clear-eyed in business with China

Canada’s foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, has said China has become “increasingly disruptive” on the world stage as she hinted in a speech at a new Indo-Pacific strategy expected to be released this month.

Her comments come ahead of several summits that Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, is to attend, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia, the G20 in Indonesia, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Thailand.

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Gal Costa, influential Brazilian singer, dies aged 77

The singer, who was a main part of the Tropicália movement, had recently canceled an appearance at a music festival after surgery

Gal Costa, the influential Brazilian singer who was one of the principal figures in the Tropicália movement of the 1960s, died on Wednesday, her public relations agency confirmed. She was 77.

No cause of death was immediately provided. The singer, who lived in São Paulo, had recently canceled a concert at a local music festival on advice from her doctor, after surgery in September to remove a nodule from her right nasal cavity. She had been expected to return to the stage in São Paulo in December, according to tour dates listed on her website.

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‘It was giving me a hug’: video captures rare giant octopus encounter

Canadian diver captures footage of the cephalopod drawing closer and closer until it fully embraces her

For outsiders, scuba diving in the frigid waters of the northern Pacific can seem daunting: limbs quickly go numb without the right equipment, and unlike the sparkling blue of the tropics, the water has a gloomy, greenish tint.

But a recent viral encounter between a diver and an octopus has highlighted the particular magic of the sunken kelp forests off the coast of British Columbia.

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