Category Archives: Americas

Vulnerable countries demand global tax to pay for climate-led loss and damage

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Poor nations exhort UN to consider ‘climate-related and justice-based’ tax on big fossil fuel users and air travel

The world’s most vulnerable countries are preparing to take on the richest economies with a demand for urgent finance – potentially including new taxes on fossil fuels or flying – for the irrecoverable losses they are suffering from the climate crisis, leaked documents show.

Extreme weather is already hitting many developing countries hard and forecast to wreak further catastrophe. Loss and damage – the issue of how to help poor nations suffering from the most extreme impacts of climate breakdown, which countries cannot be protected against – is one of the most contentious problems in climate negotiations.

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Flooding and landslides in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona knocks out power to island

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Category 1 storm damage ‘catastrophic’, says governor, while it continues to strengthen and barrels toward Dominican Republic

Most of Puerto Rico is without power after a category 1 hurricane bringing heavy rains and dangerous winds made landfall on Sunday evening, causing severe flooding and landslides and damaging infrastructure.

Hurricane Fiona was causing “catastrophic flooding” in Puerto Rico early on Sunday evening, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

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Jair Bolsonaro uses visit to London for Queen’s funeral as ‘election soapbox’

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Speaking from the balcony of his ambassador’s home, Brazilian president rounds on leftists, abortion and ‘gender ideology’

Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has been accused of using the Queen’s funeral as a political soapbox after he flew into London to deliver a speech to supporters about the dangers of leftists, abortion and “gender ideology”.

Speaking from the balcony of the Brazilian ambassador’s 19th-century Mayfair home on Sunday, the South American populist voiced “profound respect” for the royal family and UK citizens and claimed that honouring Queen Elizabeth II was the “main objective” of his visit to London.

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‘Olê, olá, Lula!’ Brazil’s voters sing for a heroic comeback to banish Bolsonaro

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Polls show former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is on course for a return to power

It was a scene that could have been plucked from Brazil’s history books: an enraptured crowd, a sea of flags and, on stage above them, a bearded leftist in a bright red shirt.

“The president of hope is here!” the master of ceremonies roared as the star of the show arrived in a police convoy to address the people whose country he is promising to save.

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Puerto Rico under hurricane warning as tropical storm Fiona nears

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Residents warned of heavy rain, potential landslides, severe flooding and power outages

Tropical Storm Fiona was expected to become a hurricane as it neared Puerto Rico on Saturday, threatening to dump up to 20 inches (51cm) of rain as people braced for potential landslides, severe flooding and power outages.

The storm previously battered various eastern Caribbean islands, with one death reported in the French territory of Guadeloupe. Regional prefect Alexandre Rochatte told reporters on Saturday that the body was found on the side of a road after floods washed away a home in the capital of Basse-Terre.

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‘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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