Category Archives: Americas

Stars in Brazil voice fury as judge orders festival to ban ‘political demonstrations’

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Electoral judge outlaws leftist ‘propaganda’ at Lollapalooza, months before October election

Artists and celebrities in Brazil have voiced outrage after an electoral judge ordered one of the country’s biggest music festivals to outlaw “political demonstrations” by performers after a legal challenge from President Jair Bolsonaro’s political party.

Lawyers representing Bolsonaro’s Liberal party made their petition to the supreme electoral court on Saturday after Brazil’s far-right leader was pilloried at this weekend’s Lollapalooza event by pop stars and rappers, including the British singer Marina.

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William and Kate: what matters is better future for people of Commonwealth

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Royal couple say they are ‘committed to service’, which is not ‘telling people what to do’, at end of Caribbean tour

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have insisted they are interested only in a “better future” for the Commonwealth, not in who leads it, at the end of their tour of the Caribbean.

William said foreign tours were an “opportunity to reflect” and he and his wife were committed to “serving and supporting” the people of the Commonwealth, not “telling them what to do”, in a statement published on the couple’s Twitter account.

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Taylor Hawkins: drugs found in body of Foo Fighters drummer

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Toxicology test indicated presence of 10 substances including marijuana, antidepressants and opioids

The Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had at least 10 substances in his body when he died suddenly in Bogotá, according to a preliminary toxicology test carried out by Colombian authorities.

The 50-year-old musician was found dead in his hotel room on Friday afternoon, hours before the band was due to perform at Colombia’s Estéreo Picnic festival as part of its South American tour. The Grammy award-winning group had then been due to headline one of Brazil’s biggest music festivals on Sunday night.

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Chile: students force closure of Santiago schools over sexual harassment and violence

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Unesco report finds that Covid school closures have made girls more vulnerable to gender-based violence

Student strikes have forced a string of school closures across Chile’s capital amid growing anger over sexist and violent behaviour only weeks after the country returned to in-person classes after two years of Covid-19 lockdowns.

“The demand is to stop the harassment,” said Javiera, 17, who was one of hundreds of girls to join protests outside the prestigious Santiago Lastarria school, after male students were found swapping intimate photos of their female classmates on Instagram. “We are demanding justice for victims, and for schools to stop protecting abusers.”

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Canada: key Conservative says party risks takeover by far-right ‘lunatics’

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Jason Kenney warns a far-right element could seize control in the coming weeks as United Conservatives hold leadership review

Alberta’s premier has called fellow Conservatives “lunatics” who are “trying to take over the asylum” as a populist mutiny in his party foreshadows a bitter fight for the future of Canada’s Conservative movement.

In a leaked recording of a meeting with caucus staff on Tuesday, Premier Jason Kenney warned a far-right element – skeptical of coronavirus measures and wedded to conspiracy theories – could seize control of the party in the coming weeks as the United Conservatives hold a leadership review.

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‘Perfect storm’: William and Kate’s awkward Caribbean tour

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Calls for slavery reparations and Jamaica’s PM insisting country was ‘moving on’ signal sea change in relations with royals

It was supposed to be a visit to mark the Queen’s diamond jubilee – a chance to present the modern face of the British monarchy to a region where republican sentiment is on the rise.

But it really didn’t turn out that way.

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Violence in Mexico and Central America driving large waves of migration

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Biden administration will institute expedited processing – and sometimes removal – of asylum seekers to clear backlog

Waves of migration through Mexico and Central America, and people who go missing, will increase in 2022 due to high levels of violence in the region, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.

“In many countries, violence is wreaking more and more havoc, and that’s why there are more and more migrants,” ICRC representative Jordi Raich told Reuters in an interview Wednesday. “And it’s not a situation that is going to improve or slow down, not even in the years to come.“

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Canada bars its soldiers from joining Ukraine’s foreign legion

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Military authorities fear any captured service members could be used as propaganda tool by Russia

Canada has barred its soldiers from joining Ukraine’s “international brigade” of foreign fighters, amid growing concern that captured troops could be used as a Russian propaganda tool.

Speaking to Canadian parliament’s defence committee on Wednesday, Lt Gen Frances Allen, the vice-chief of the defence staff, said top brass had issued an order preventing full-time service members and part-time reservists from travelling to join Ukraine’s newly formed foreign legion.

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Colombia could elect first black female vice-president as poll leader names pick

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Francia Márquez, 40, an environmental campaigner who has survived at least one assassination attempt, is leftist Gustavo Petro’s running mate

She is an Afro-Colombian environmental crusader who has faced down untold death threats and survived at least one assassination attempt to become one of the leading lights of Latin America’s new left.

Now, Francia Márquez, 39, could be on the verge of becoming Colombia’s next vice-president after the leftist frontrunner, Gustavo Petro, picked her as his running mate – a move that has thrilled progressives and civil rights activists across the region.

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Nicaragua’s ambassador to the OAS denounces Daniel Ortega’s ‘dictatorship’

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Arturo McFields Yescas spoke out against the government he is representing in a verbal attack that was lauded by the US

Nicaragua’s ambassador to the Organization of American States has launched an extraordinary verbal attack on the authoritarian government he is employed to represent, castigating Daniel Ortega’s “indefensible” dictatorship for its assault on human rights and democracy.

Arturo McFields Yescas spoke out during an online OAS session on Wednesday, in a startling declaration that spread quickly on social media and was commended by countries such as the US.

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Machu Picchu: Inca site ‘has gone by wrong name for over 100 years’

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Peruvian historian and US archaeologist say the pre-Columbian town was called Huayna Picchu by the Inca people

Machu Picchu is one of the world’s best-known archaeological sites, a wonder of pre-Columbian architecture that has been closely studied for decades and a tourist attraction that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

But a new academic paper argues that since its rediscovery more than a century ago, the site has been known by the wrong name.

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UK minister in BVI for urgent talks on sanctioning Russian oligarchs

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Amanda Melling’s visit follows fears UK tax havens may offer loophole for those trying to avoid clampdown

A Foreign Office minister has flown to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) to hold urgent discussions on how sanctions against Russian oligarchs with cash stored in the secretive islands can be implemented, amid fears. UK tax havens may provide a loophole for those trying to escape the international clampdown.

Amanda Milling’s visit follows news that a succession of oligarchs appeared to have hidden their assets in trusts based in the BVI in a bid to put them beyond reach of UK sanctions. British sanctions laws apply in the overseas territories, and enforcement officers are supposed to have full access to registers of beneficial ownerships.

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Speeding driver on wrong side of road was 11-year-old boy, Canada police say

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Police initially believed they had intercepted a drunk driver as they chased car traveling at 93mph on the wrong side of the road

When police in Canada responded to reports of a car travelling at 150km per hour (93mph) on the wrong side of the road, they initially believed they had intercepted a drunk driver.

So officers were surprised to discover that the driver was in fact an 11-year-old boy.

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Justin Trudeau strikes power-sharing deal with leftwing New Democrats

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Confidence and supply agreement will keep Trudeau in office until 2025 in return for action on pharmaceutical and dental programs

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has struck a deal with a political rival that would keep in him power until 2025. In exchange for support from the New Democratic party on key votes, Trudeau’s Liberals have pledged progress on national pharmaceutical and dental care programs.

“With so much instability around us, Canadians need stability,” said the prime minister as he announced the deal with the NDP on Tuesday morning.

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End of an era as Canada’s oldest ‘prairie castle’ to be dismantled

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Grain elevator built in 1897 that towered over Elva in Manitoba symbolic of western Canada’s history and heritage

For nearly 125 years, a wooden grain elevator towered over the town of Elva, visible from miles away and distinguishing the community as an economic hub in the Canadian Prairies.

The structure endured frigid cold, beating rains and harsh sun, but after decades of neglect, its owner has announced plans to dismantle the country’s oldest “prairie castle”, closing a chapter in the region’s history.

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Jamaican campaigners call for colonialism apology from royal family

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Politicians and business leaders sign open letter as Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit Caribbean

Jamaican campaigners have accused the Queen of perpetuating slavery in a letter urging the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to atone for colonialism during their Caribbean tour.

As the country celebrates 60 years of independence, a coalition of Jamaican politicians, business leaders, doctors and musicians have called in the open letter for the British monarchy to apologise for colonialism and pay slavery reparations.

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Rosario v Newell’s Old Boys delayed after ‘number of grenades’ damage pitch

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  • Fierce football derby in Argentina forced to kick off late
  • Explosives had been thrown on to the field by fans

The derby game in Argentina’s top flight between Rosario Central and Newell’s Old Boys kicked off late on Sunday after “a number of grenades”, which had been thrown on to the field by fans, blew holes in the playing surface.

The fixture, a local derby between two fierce rivals in the Santa Fe province, is one of the major dates in the country’s football calendar.

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Toronto mosque worshippers tackle man ‘brandishing a hatchet’

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Man attacked people with bear spray during morning prayer before being subdued, police say

Worshippers at a mosque in Toronto subdued an allegedly axe-wielding man who police say attacked people with bear spray during a dawn prayer service.

Police said the 24-year-old man walked into the Dar Al-Tawheed Islamic centre in the suburb of Mississauga and allegedly “discharged bear spray towards people in the mosque while brandishing a hatchet” just before 7am on Saturday.

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After Ukraine, how will the world replace Russia’s oil products?

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A report from the International Energy Agency makes clear that viable alternatives are limited

As Boris Johnson flew to the Gulf this week to ask for more oil to replace supplies from Russia, he was accused by the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, of “going cap in hand from dictator to dictator”.

At the same time, a report produced by the International Energy Agency (IEA) underlined just how limited the options are for any economy seeking to replace Russian crude and other oil products.

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Ottawa truck convoy cost the city more than C$36m – mainly in police expenses

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The costs were more than twice the amount the city budgeted for affordable and supportive housing

The truck convoy that paralyzed much of downtown Ottawa for nearly a month cost the city more than C$36m, officials have said, and the figure is expected to rise in the coming weeks.

A memo released by the city on Friday said policing costs accounted for the vast majority of the $36.3m bill.

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