Allegation comes as nation reels from similarly horrific crime and prompted protests in Bogotá
Colombian soldiers have been accused of raping a 15-year-old indigenous girl, in the second such case to emerge in a week.
Troops in the southern Guaviare region were accused in September of kidnapping, torturing and repeatedly raping a 15-year-old girl from the Nukak Makú tribe, but the case was not widely reported until this week.
Continue reading...Across the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, scientists are developing alternative sustainable solutions to the golden tide of Sargassum
The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, first detected by Nasa observation satellites in 2011 and now known to be the world’s largest bloom of seaweed, stretches for 5,500 miles (8,850km) from the Gulf of Mexico to the western coast of Africa.
Millions of tonnes of floating Sargassum seaweed in coastal waters smother fragile seagrass habitats, suffocate coral reefs and harm fisheries. And once washed ashore on Mexican and Caribbean beaches, this foul-smelling, rotting seaweed goes on to devastate the tourist industry, prevent turtles from nesting and damage coastal ecosystems, while releasing hydrogen sulphide and other toxic gases as it decomposes.
Continue reading...Gabriel Wortman frantically stockpiled supplies amid coronavirus fears but had no ‘special relationship’ with RCMP
Police in Canada believe the gunman behind the country’s worst-ever mass shooting was a “paranoid survivalist” who frantically stockpiled supplies as fears grew over the looming coronavirus pandemic.
Gabriel Wortman killed 22 people across the province of Nova Scotia in the 13-hour shooting spree that started on 18 April. Wortman, who was dressed in a police uniform, was eventually shot dead by officers after a standoff outside a gas station.
Continue reading...Folha de São Paulo urges people who support campaign to protect country’s political future to wear yellow
One of Brazil’s leading newspapers has launched a major pro-democracy campaign as unease grows about the threat many fear Jair Bolsonaro and his most militant supporters pose to the country’s political future.
Unveiling the initiative on Sunday, the Folha de São Paulo said systematic attacks from pro-Bolsonaro extremists were putting Brazilian democracy through its greatest “stress test” since the return of civilian rule in 1985.
Continue reading...Beijing denounces ‘megaphone diplomacy’ over jailed Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and arrest of Huawei executive
China has sharply criticised Canada over its comments about two Canadians charged with spying, blaming its leaders for “irresponsible” statements and calling on Ottawa to end its “megaphone iplomacy”.
Chinese prosecutors this month charged Canadians Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a businessman, over allegations of espionage and providing state secrets.
Continue reading...A growing movement for sustainable agriculture in Brazil has taken on new urgency with the coronavirus pandemic
The cumaru trees could have been planted elsewhere in this Amazon reserve, where they had better chances of flourishing. Instead, they were planted in harsh, sandy soil in the dry savannah that breaks up the forest. Jack beans, guandu peas and other crops were planted in straw around them with cut savannah grass, for moisture and compost. “We call it the cradle,” says agronomist Alailson Rêgo. “It protects them.”
The hope is that if these Amazon-native trees – whose seeds can be used in cosmetics – thrive on this sandy soil and a nearby patch of deforested, burned land, they can regenerate abandoned pasture elsewhere. In the Amazon, more land is cleared for cattle than anything else. It’s easier enough to clear – chop down a few trees, light a few fires. But restoring the forest? Bringing back the life and the greenness? That is far, far harder.
Continue reading...If discredited president refuses to accept imminent ruling over March vote, investors likely to be scared off
Allegations of mass vote fiddling in the former British colony of Guyana may lead to the country’s discredited government being ostracised unless a court hearing next week can resolve a bitter dispute over election results.
The political stakes in Guyana have risen massively since May 2015 when Exxon Mobil discovered oil reserves potentially worth more than $100bn (£80bn) 200km (124 miles) off the coast – a find big enough to transform a Latin American country of fewer than 1 million people with a GDP of $3bn largely based on sugar, timber, molasses and bauxite. Its current income of $5,250 per head is projected to rise to above $10,000 next year alone.
Continue reading...Two bodyguards and passerby shot dead by assassins disguised as road workers
At least three people have been killed after assassins disguised as road workers launched an early morning attack on Mexico City’s police chief on the capital’s most famous street.
Omar García Harfuch was reportedly driving to work through the tree-lined Lomas de Chapultepec neighbourhood, home to several foreign embassies, when he was ambushed by heavily armed gunmen shortly after 6.30am.
Continue reading...Seven soldiers confessed to raping child from the Emberà tribe
Outrage has been sparked in Colombia after a 13-year-old girl was gang-raped by seven soldiers from the country’s army last weekend.
On Thursday, seven soldiers confessed to raping the child from the indigenous Emberá tribe, who went missing from her rural reserve in northern Colombia on Sunday. She was found the next day at a nearby school. News of the horrific crime shocked much of the South American nation, which has long reckoned with violence against indigenous women and girls.
Continue reading...$1bn gold hoard subject of dispute between Nicolás Maduro and rival Juan Guaidó
Claims that the Bank of England is unlawfully blocking the release of 31 tonnes of gold valued at nearly $1bn(£805m) and intended to combat the coronavirus in Venezuela have been heard in the high court this week.
The bars are among the 400,000 bars of gold held in the Bank’s vaults, but there is a political dispute about their rightful owner.
Continue reading...Despite sharing borders with Brazil, small countries can claim victory against virus
Latin America has become the new centre of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic but two small countries, Uruguay and Paraguay, have bucked the regional trend and can claim a near total victory against the virus.
Though they are strangely dissimilar – Uruguay is a progressive enclave with the lowest poverty index in Latin America, while Paraguay has poverty estimates of 30-50% and is rife with corruption – both nations have kept their coronavirus death rates surprisingly low.
Continue reading...Leandro Maduro Costa entertained patients in a Rio hospital before his death from coronavirus
Those who knew and loved him say Leandro Maduro Costa was born a clown, lived his life as a clown – and had hoped to die as one.
“He always said to me: ‘Felipe, if I die first, bury me as ‘Potato’,” said Felipe Alves Guimarães, a friend and fellow entertainer known by audiences as Tambourine.
Continue reading...Investigations under way into the reasons behind deaths of 13 men and two women
At least 15 people have been bludgeoned to death with stones and cement blocks, and some bodies partly burned, in an indigenous village in southern Mexico plagued by a dispute over windpower.
The municipal government of the Pacific coast community of San Mateo del Mar in Oaxaca state said 13 men and two women were killed at the weekend by what it described as a group of six people with the support of a local crime boss. Activists who successfully opposed windpower projects say the mayor’s followers ambushed them at a coronavirus checkpoint.
Continue reading...The lawyer representing 200 victims of the Windrush scandal says systemic racism is at the root of the problem
For the past three months, Jacqueline McKenzie says her front room has been covered with Windrush compensation files. Since lockdown, she has stopped going to the offices of the law firm she co-founded in 2010 and has been working from home. But her study is too small to accommodate the huge amount of paperwork that goes with the 200 separate claims she is filing on behalf of people affected by the Home Office citizenship scandal, during which thousands of people were wrongly classified as illegal immigrants because they could not prove they were British citizens.
“I think they are treating people with contempt,” she says. She is frustrated at the slow progress towards paying compensation to people who lost their jobs or their homes, were denied healthcare or the right to travel, or who were, in extreme cases, detained and deported. Part of the problem, she says, lies with the structure of the scheme, which requires claimants to gather large amounts of documentary proof of the losses they have incurred as a result of being miscategorised as unlawful residents (a problem that often arose because those affected were unable to gather the large amounts of documentary proof required to show that they had been living legally in the UK since the 1960s).
Continue reading...Coronavirus has swept through tribes, killing elders – and inflicting irreparable damage on tribal history, culture and medicine
When Bep Karoti Xikrin fell ill with Covid-19, he refused to go to a hospital.
The 64-year-old chief of a Xikrin indigenous village in Brazil’s Amazon was plagued by headaches and fatigue and struggled for breath. But according to his daughter Bekuoi Raquel, he was afraid that if he were admitted to hospital he might never return.
Continue reading...Chile raises deaths to more than 7,000; six on Trump campaign test positive ahead of rally; Spain opens up for British tourists
A national campaign may be needed to teach people in England to wear face masks correctly, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies’ (Sage) subgroup has said.
Professor Susan Michie said that many people using public transport in England are not wearing their face masks in the right way, and “training” may be needed to ensure they are used effectively.
Tokyo has confirmed 35 new cases of coronavirus.
According to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, Japan has had 17,725 cases of the virus, and 955 deaths.
Continue reading...Iran reports more than 100 deaths for third day in a row; UK death toll rises by 43; Chile deaths rise to more than 7,000. This blog is now closed. Follow our new blog below
We have now closed this blog, but you can stay up to date on all our live coverage of coronavirus on our new global blog below:
Related: Coronavirus live news: World Health Organization reports record daily global case increase
That’s all from me for today – I’ll hand over to my colleague Helen Sullivan to guide you all through the next bit. As always, thanks for following along.
Continue reading...Testing a ‘double-edged sword’, says Trump; Chile death toll nearly doubles; Australian state ‘absolutely at risk’ of second peak
Donald Trump told thousands of supporters on Saturday that he had asked US officials to slow down testing for Covid-19 because case numbers in the country were rising so rapidly.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the US president used racist language, referring to Covid-19 as “kung flu”, and described testing for the virus as a “double-edged sword” because it led to the identification of more cases.
Continue reading...Brazil passes 1 million infections; Australia struggles with new cases; Greta Thunberg says similar urgency needed for climate change as for Covid-19
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday hailed “hero” doctors who died during the coronavirus epidemic, comparing them to battlefield medics from past wars.
Putin, who spoke ahead of next month’s controversial vote that is expected to extend his hold on power until 2036, also promised awards and more bonuses for health personnel.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said on Saturday that Turkey had lost some ground in its battle with the coronavirus but a focus on hygiene, masks and social distancing will protect people and help the economy rebound in the second half of the year.
This month, Ankara opened restaurants and cafes and lifted weekend stay-at-home orders and most intercity travel bans. But since 1 June, new Covid-19 cases have doubled to nearly 1,600 per day, raising concerns of a re-emergence.
Continue reading...The World Health Organization has announced the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating and more than 150,000 cases of Covid-19 were reported in one day on Thursday, the highest single-day number so far.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, told reporters in Geneva refugees were particularly at risk from the pandemic and that nearly half of the newly reported cases were in the Americas, with significant numbers from South Asia and the Middle East