Category Archives: Americas

Hundreds of fishing fleets that go ‘dark’ suspected of illegal hunting, study finds

Posted on by

Vessels primarily from China switch off their tracking beacons to evade detection while they engage in possible illegal fishing

Giant distant-water fishing fleets, primarily from China, are switching off their tracking beacons to evade detection while they engage in a possibly illegal hunt for squid and other lucrative species on the very edge of Argentina’s extensive fishing grounds, according to a new study by Oceana, an international NGO dedicated to ocean conservation.

Every year, vessels crowd together along the limits of Argentina’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to take advantage of the lucrative fishing grounds.

Related: Cat and mouse on the high seas: on the trail of China's vast squid fleet

Continue reading...

‘Shameful’: Bolsonaro denounced for hosting Copa América amid pandemic

Posted on by
  • Brazil president accused of mishandling Covid outbreak
  • Football tournament moved from Colombia and Argentina

The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, has sparked outrage after approving plans to hold South America’s answer to the European Championship in his Covid-stricken country despite warnings Brazil is steaming into a potentially calamitous third wave of infections.

The Copa América was originally due to be co-hosted by Colombia and Argentina, but their struggles with deadly street protests and coronavirus put paid to those plans.

Continue reading...

Mexico accuses Zara and Anthropologie of cultural appropriation

Posted on by

Ministry of culture claims Zara used a pattern distinctive to the indigenous Mixteca community

Mexico has accused the international fashion brands Zara, Anthropologie and Patowl of cultural appropriation, claiming they used patterns from indigenous groups in their designs without any benefit to the communities.

The culture ministry said in a statement that it had sent letters signed by the culture minister, Alejandra Frausto, to the three companies, asking each for a “public explanation on what basis it could privatise collective property”.

Continue reading...

Peru has world’s worst per capita Covid toll after death data revised

Posted on by

Updated figures give country a per capita death toll of 500 per 100,000 people – double that of Brazil

Peru has almost tripled its official Covid-19 death toll to 180,764, after a government review, making it the country with the highest death rate per capita, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Peru has been among the hardest hit Latin American countries during the pandemic, with its hospitals overcrowded and demand for oxygen outstripping availability.

Continue reading...

Copa América moved from Argentina to Brazil just 13 days before kick-off

Posted on by
  • Conmebol statement confirms surprise move to Brazil
  • Argentina is experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases

The South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) has announced Brazil as the new hosts of this summer’s Copa América, with Argentina replaced just 13 days before the tournament is due to begin.

“The Copa América 2021 will be played in Brazil,” an official Conmebol statement said. “Tournament start and end dates are confirmed. The venues and the fixtures will be announced by Conmebol in the next few hours.”

Continue reading...

‘Huge incentives to kill’: Mexico crime groups target election candidates

Posted on by

At least 34 candidates have been murdered since campaigning began in April, with the assassination clear-up rate close to zero

Tuesday started off like any other day on the campaign trail for José Alberto Alonso, a union leader running for mayor in the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco: he kissed his family goodbye, boarded his Nissan Extreme SUV and headed off to start knocking on doors.

But barely 200m from his home, a motorcycle closed in and the pillion passenger pulled a handgun, peppering the car with bullets. Alonso’s bodyguard returned fire, and the attackers fled. The candidate had escaped injury, but was later sent to hospital suffering from stress.

Continue reading...

Partner of Lord Ashcroft’s son questioned over killing of Belize police officer

Posted on by

Jasmin Hartin was arrested near to location of body with ‘what appeared to be blood on her arms’

The partner of the son of Lord Ashcroft, a Conservative party donor and former treasurer, is being questioned in Belize over the killing of a police officer.

Jasmine Hartin was arrested on Friday following the discovery of the body of Supt Henry Jemmott on a pier in the resort town of San Pedro.

Continue reading...

‘No to dictatorship’: thousands of Brazilians rally against Bolsonaro – video

Posted on by

Brazilians staged protests against President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in at least 200 cities and towns across the country on Saturday, carrying signs such as 'Out with Bolsonaro' and 'Impeachment now'.

Bolsonaro's popularity has plummeted during the coronavirus crisis, which has killed more than 450,000 Brazilians as the far-right leader played down its severity, dismissed mask wearing and cast doubt on the importance of vaccines.

Organised by leftist political parties, unions and student associations, Saturday's protests in the capital, Brasilia, and in Rio de Janeiro were peaceful but in the north-eastern city of Recife, police threw teargas and shot rubber bullets.

Continue reading...

Tens of thousands of Brazilians march to demand Bolsonaro’s impeachment

Posted on by

Protests in over 200 cities and towns in Brazil sparked by president’s handling of the Covid pandemic

Tens of thousands of protesters have poured on to the streets of Brazil’s largest cities to demand the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro over his catastrophic response to a coronavirus pandemic that has claimed nearly half a million Brazilian lives.

The demonstrators turned out in more than 200 cities and towns for what is the biggest anti-Bolsonaro mobilisation since Brazil’s Covid outbreak began

Continue reading...

Further unrest in Colombia as talks stall between government and protesters

Posted on by

Anti-poverty demonstrators battle with police across the country as protests enter second month

Violent unrest continues to roil Colombia as anti-poverty demonstrations enter their second month and talks between protesters and the government stall.

A fresh spate of violence swept the South American nation on Friday night, with protesters battling police who attempted to lift roadblocks across the country.

Continue reading...

‘More people could die’: four killed in Colombia protests as talks with government stall

Posted on by

Officials confirm deaths during Friday protests marking a month of demonstrations

Four people have died in Colombia as tens of thousands of protesters marked a month of demonstrations across the country, while talks between the government and the national strike committee were stalled.

Related: Colombia politician tells protesters hurt by police to ‘stop crying over one eye’

Continue reading...

Bard timing: Argentinian TV reports death of Shakespeare after Covid jab

Posted on by

Newsreader confuses Bill Shakespeare, 81, ‘the first man to get the coronavirus vaccine’ with ‘one of the most important writers in the English language’

In what can only be described as a comedy of errors, an Argentinian TV news channel delivered a stunning, if slightly flawed, scoop on Thursday night when it reported that William Shakespeare, “one of the most important writers in the English language” had died five months after receiving the Covid vaccine.

The gaffe of, well, Shakespearean proportions happened after Noelia Novillo, a newsreader on Canal 26, mixed up the Bard with William “Bill” Shakespeare, an 81-year-old Warwickshire man who became the second person in the world to get the Pfizer vaccine.

Continue reading...

Canada: remains of 215 children found at Indigenous residential school site

Posted on by
  • Officials make grim discovery near Kamloops, British Columbia
  • First Nation chief says causes and timings of deaths not known

A mass grave containing the remains of 215 Indigenous children has been discovered on the grounds of a former residential school in the interior of southern British Columbia.

The grim discovery at the former school near the town of Kamloops was announced late on Thursday by the Tk’emlups te Secwépemc people after the site was examined by a team using ground-penetrating radar.

Continue reading...

Argentina sends out DNA kits in drive to identify thousands ‘disappeared’ under dictatorship

Posted on by

Move is part of groundbreaking effort to name 30,000 murdered by regime after 1976 coup

The Argentinian government has sent hundreds of DNA testing kits to its consulates around the world in a groundbreaking effort to put names to unidentified victims murdered in the “Dirty War” waged by the brutal military dictatorship four decades ago.

Last month, the Argentinian authorities, in collaboration with the National Commission for the Right to Identity, the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo movement and investigators from the Argentinian Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), launched its international Right to Identity campaign, committed to putting a name to every woman, man and child killed by the military junta in Argentina in the 1970s and early 80s.

Continue reading...

Mexico’s doctors protest as vaccines denied to frontline health workers

Posted on by

Doctors’ pleas receive little sympathy from government as critics say President Amlo favoring teachers – for political reasons

Ana Sofía is radiologist at a state-run hospital in the Mexican city of Monterrey, not far from the Texas border. Her work often brings her into close contact with patients, but says she was denied a coronavirus vaccination as her superiors did not consider her to be a frontline worker.

In despair, she attended a rural vaccination event for the elderly and asked for a leftover dose of the Sinovac jab – but she was again rebuffed, this time by political operatives who told her: “Wait your turn.”

Continue reading...

Colombia politician tells protesters hurt by police to ‘stop crying over one eye’

Posted on by

At least 43 protesters have been killed by police and 46 people have suffered eye injuries

After a month of protests in which 46 people have suffered eye injuries from police teargas rounds and rubber bullets, a Colombian politician has prompted outrage by saying that supporters of the anti-poverty demonstrations should “stop crying over one eye”.

“Don’t fool Colombians and don’t fool the international community and stop crying over one eye,” said Paola Holguín, a senator from the ruling Centro Democrático party, to opposition politicians during a virtual floor speech on Wednesday afternoon.

Continue reading...

Brazil aerial photos show miners’ devastation of indigenous people’s land

Posted on by

Impact of thousands of wildcat goldminers shown as president Jair Bolsonaro is accused of trying to promote their illegal work

Rare and disturbing aerial photographs have laid bare the devastation being inflicted on Brazil’s largest reserve for indigenous people by thousands of wildcat goldminers whose illegal activities have accelerated under the country’s far-right leader, Jair Bolsonaro.

Activists believe as many as 20,000 garimpeiro prospectors are operating within the Yanomami reserve in northern Brazil using speedboats and light aircraft to penetrate the vast expanse of jungle near the border with Venezuela.

Continue reading...

US to sue Canada over dairy practices as hopes for better trade relations fade

Posted on by

US trade representative announced plans to sue as Canadian officials face growing tensions with US

After a tumultuous four years living next door to Donald Trump, many Canadians had hoped that relations with their closest neighbour would mend under Joe Biden. The former president had slapped tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, threatened levies on the automotive sector, and called the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, “two-faced”.

But in recent weeks, Canadian officials have faced growing tensions with the US under Biden as leaders on both sides confront domestic political challenges.

Continue reading...

Galápagos tortoise found alive revealed as species thought extinct 100 years ago – video

Posted on by

A giant tortoise found in the Galápagos Islands has been confirmed as a species thought to be extinct a century ago. The tortoise was found in 2019 on Fernandina Island and identified as the Chelonoidis phantasticus species by scientists from Yale University. The Galápagos national park is preparing an expedition to search for more of the giant tortoises in an attempt to save the species

Continue reading...

Giant tortoise found in Galápagos a species considered extinct a century ago

Posted on by

Ecuador confirms turtle found two years ago on Fernandina Island is a Chelonoidis phantasticus species

Ecuador has confirmed that a giant tortoise found in 2019 in the Galápagos Islands is a species considered extinct a century ago.

The Galápagos National Park is preparing an expedition to search for more of the giant tortoises in an attempt to save the species.

Continue reading...