Category Archives: Americas

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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Growing calls in Caribbean to cut ties to monarchy as royals fly out

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William and Kate’s visit seen as attempt to persuade countries not to follow Barbados in ditching monarchy

The UK should be helping Caribbean nations sever ties with the monarchy rather than sending the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on a charm offensive, Caribbean experts and Windrush campaigners say, predicting that Barbados’s decision to remove the Queen as head of state may have a domino effect across the region.

The royals will embark on a tour of Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas on Saturday that is widely viewed as an attempt to persuade other Caribbean nations not to follow Barbados’s example, after the Queen was said to have been dismayed by the island’s move.

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Peruvian court approves prison release of ex-president Alberto Fujimori

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Decision restores humanitarian pardon granted to Fujimori, who is serving a 25-year sentence for murder and corruption charges

Peru’s constitutional court has approved the release from prison of former president Alberto Fujimori, who is serving a 25-year sentence for murder and corruption charges.

Judge Eloy Espinosa-Saldana confirmed the 4-3 ruling in remarks broadcast on local channel Canal N. It was unclear when Fujimori could leave prison or if new legal challenges could halt the decision.

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‘Contemptuous’: anger in Brazil as Bolsonaro given Indigenous merit medal

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Government honours president who activists accuse of undermining Indigenous protections

Brazilian activists are outraged after Jair Bolsonaro – who has been accused of spearheading a cataclysmic attack on Indigenous rights – was honoured by his own government for his supposedly “altruistic” efforts to protect Indigenous lives.

Bolsonaro was granted the Medal of Indigenous Merit on Wednesday in recognition of what the justice ministry called his attempts to defend Indigenous communities in the South American country.

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Netflix tests charges for sharing passwords between households

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Scheme being trialled in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru seen as way to make more money from existing subscribers as growth slows

The days of sharing Netflix passwords could soon be over. The streaming company has begun testing a new feature that would charge people to add multiple profiles to an account.

The scheme is being trialled in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru. It is unclear if and when the feature will be rolled out in other countries.

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Honduras judge says ex-president Juan Orlando Hernández can be extradited to US

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Former first lady tells journalists her husband will be exonerated of profiting from drug trafficking

The former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández should be extradited to the US to face drug trafficking and weapons charges, a Honduran judge has ruled.

The supreme court of justice in Honduras tweeted on Wednesday that it had decided to grant the US extradition request.

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Human rights officials call for Pegasus spyware ban at El Salvador hearing

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Inter-American Commission on Human Rights holds hearing on using Israeli spyware against journalists and activists

Senior human rights officials have repeated calls for a ban on the powerful Israeli spyware Pegasus until safeguards are in place to protect civilians from illegal hacking by governments.

Calls for a moratorium on the sale and use of the military-grade spyware were made on Wednesday at a hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) into widespread unlawful surveillance using Pegasus spyware against journalists and activists in El Salvador.

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Equality was key to ancient Mexican city’s success, study suggests

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At its peak Monte Albán was home to 17,000 people, despite a lack of water supplies or fertile land

Greater equality than that experienced in other Mesoamerican cities may have been key to the successes of an ancient Zapotec community in Mexico which survived far longer than any contemporaneous metropolis, a new study suggests.

The ruins of Monte Albán – which include pyramids, canals and a ballgame court – sit on a semi-arid hilltop above the city of Oaxaca. At its peak the city, founded in 500BC, was the administrative and religious capital for the Zapotec people, and home to 17,000 people, despite a lack of water supplies or fertile land.

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