Men at Bluebonnet fear deportation to El Salvador under wartime law despite maintaining they do not have gang ties
Detainees at the Bluebonnet immigrant detention center in the small city of Anson, Texas, sent the outside world a message this week: SOS.
With a Reuters drone flying nearby, 31 men formed the letters in the dirt yard of the facility on Monday.
Continue reading...Former top official calls for Rodney Scott to be blocked from CBP role over handling of investigation into Anastasio Hernández Rojas’s death
Rodney Scott, Donald Trump’s nominee to lead Customs and Border Protection (CBP), has been accused by a former top official of orchestrating a “cover-up” over the death of a man detained while trying to enter the country from Mexico, according to a letter obtained by the Guardian.
Scott is a former US border patrol chief who has supported the president’s vow to build a wall along the border with Mexico and criticized Joe Biden’s handling of immigration policy. As commissioner of CBP, Scott would lead one of the largest federal law enforcement agencies, which encompasses the border patrol and staffs ports of entry across the United States.
Continue reading...Following election loss to Mark Carney’s Liberals, Poilievre is likely to face questions over his future as party leader
Canada’s Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, has lost his own seat in the country’s general election, in a stunning blow for the 45-year-old career politician who until recently had been widely expected to become the country’s next prime minister.
Although Conservatives increased both their seat count and vote share, Mark Carney’s Liberal party secured control of parliament, and Poilievre’s defeat in the Carleton electoral district is certain to fuel mounting questions over his future as party leader.
Continue reading...Prime minister pledges to reduce country’s reliance on US trade – but must navigate competing visions for the future
In his victory speech early on Tuesday, Mark Carney wasted little time calling for a dramatic reshaping of his government’s relationship with the United States, arguing that threats from Donald Trump cast doubt Canada’s ability to function as a “free, sovereign, and ambitious” nation.
The former central banker and investment executive had for months focused his electoral campaign on the threats from Canada’s largest trading partner and longtime political ally.
Continue reading...Canadian PM right candidate for the moment in success shaped more by chance than meticulous planning
Mark Carney, the economist, banker and politician, has long professed a simple article of faith when navigating through crisis: “A plan beats no plan.”
And his rapid ascent to Canada’s top job might be taken as evidence of such preparation.
Continue reading...Party written off months ago completes remarkable comeback after US president’s threats boosted campaign
Mark Carney has used his victory speech to claim Donald Trump wanted to “break us” as he led Canada’s Liberal party to a fourth term in office, in a race that was upended by threats and aggression from the US president.
The Liberal triumph capped a miraculous political resurrection and marked a landmark victory for Carney, the former central banker and political novice who only recently succeeded Justin Trudeau as prime minister. Results on Tuesday confirmed that the Liberals fell just short of a majority government and would therefore need the support of political rivals to govern.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: Mark Carney has pulled off an astonishing turnaround in his party’s fortunes. How did he do it – and what can progressives learn from his victory?
Good morning. At the beginning of the year, Canada’s Conservatives had a 25-point lead over the Liberal government, and their leader, Pierre Poilievre, looked a dead cert to be the country’s next prime minister. But as the votes cast in yesterday’s election have been counted, the story of the campaign has been confirmed: victory for the Liberals and their new leader, Mark Carney, who have extended their decade of rule by another five years.
It isn’t settled yet whether the Liberals will govern with a majority, or be the leading party in a hung parliament, as in the last two elections; Reuters projected a minority government a short while ago, while the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said it was still too close to call. Either way, it represents a remarkable turnaround, and vindication for Carney’s efforts to present himself as the prime ministerial candidate who would most effectively stand up to Donald Trump. As for Poilievre: the result isn’t in yet, but he is in serious danger of losing his seat.
European blackout | Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said “everything possible is being done” to restore power following an unprecedented blackout in Spain and Portugal. The blackout – blamed by the Portuguese operator on extreme temperature variations – left tens of millions of people without trains, metros, traffic lights, ATMs, phone connections and internet access.
Ukraine | Vladimir Putin has declared a three-day full ceasefire in the war with Ukraine in May to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union in the second world war. Ukraine responded to Putin’s announcement by calling for an immediate month-long ceasefire.
Asylum | Foreign nationals convicted of sex offences will be banned from claiming asylum in the UK, home secretary Yvette Cooper has said. Human rights organisations warned that “irresponsible” changes to immigration law are being rushed through to challenge a surge in the polls from the Reform party ahead of Thursday’s local elections.
Politics | Pay rises for NHS staff and teachers must be paid from existing budgets, the Treasury has warned, setting up the potential for strike action. Separate independent pay review bodies for teachers and NHS staff in England are reportedly set to make higher pay rise recommendations than ministers had suggested.
Donald Trump | Senior Whitehall officials have asked golf bosses whether they can host the 2028 Open championship at Donald Trump’s Turnberry course after repeated requests from the US president, sources have said. One person with knowledge of the discussions said: “The government is doing everything it can to get close to Trump.”
Continue reading...Maintaining a positive mood and eating more fruit may also help lower risk, researchers find
Drinking champagne, eating more fruit, staying slim and maintaining a positive outlook on life could help reduce the risk of a sudden cardiac arrest, the world’s first study of its kind suggests.
Millions of people worldwide die every year after experiencing a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), when the heart stops pumping blood around the body without warning. They are caused by a dangerous abnormal heart rhythm, when the electrical system in the heart is not working properly. Without immediate treatment such as CPR, those affected will die.
Continue reading...Liberals favored to beat Conservatives as US president issues fresh threats to annex Canada
Canadians head to the polls in a federal election overshadowed by fury at Donald Trump’s threats to the country’s sovereignty and fears over his escalating trade war.
In the final days of a month-long campaign – described by all party leaders as the most consequential general election in a lifetime – the US president yet again re-inserted himself into the national discussion, with fresh threats to annex the country. “We don’t need anything from Canada. And I say the only way this thing really works is for Canada to become a state,” he told Time magazine on Friday.
Continue reading...US president tasks secretary of state Marco Rubio with making ‘immediate’ progress
Donald Trump has demanded free transit for American commercial and military ships through the Panama and Suez canals, tasking his secretary of state with making progress “immediately”.
Trump has for months been calling for the United States to take control of the Panama canal but his social media post also shifted focus on to the vital Suez route. “American ships, both military and commercial, should be allowed to travel, free of charge, through the Panama and Suez canals!” Trump posted on Saturday.
Continue reading...Fernando Collor, who led the country from 1990 to 1992, was sentenced in 2023 after being convicted for corruption
Brazil’s former president, Fernando Collor, has been arrested early and ordered to begin serving a prison sentence stemming from his 2023 conviction for corruption.
Collor was convicted of receiving 20m reais ($3.5m) to facilitate contracts between BR Distribuidora, a fuel distributor formerly controlled by the state-owned oil company Petrobras, and construction firm UTC Engenharia for the construction of fuel distribution bases. In return, he offered political support for the appointment of executives at BR Distribuidora when it was still state-owned.
Continue reading...Critics fear decision to list Brazil-based firm JBS, long linked to Amazon’s deforestation, will add to the climate crisis
Environmental groups are outraged that the world’s biggest meatpacking company, JBS, which has long been linked to Amazon’s deforestation, has received approval from US authorities to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
The decision, announced on Tuesday by the Securities Exchange Commission, follows reports that JBS subsidiary Pilgrim’s was the biggest donor to the inauguration committee of Donald Trump. Since taking power, Trump has reduced the independence of the SEC and other agencies, demanding their work be “controlled” by the president.
Continue reading...Family incarceration has been revived after Biden – and Jade, Jason and Gabriela are speaking out about their distressing treatment in Texas
When Jade and her family first arrived at the detention facility in Karnes county, Texas, she wasn’t really sure what to think.
“I guess I was confused and scared,” said the 13-year-old. Her parents were doing their best to reassure her that everything would be OK, but she knew they were in danger of being deported.
Continue reading...Brazil has been the world’s leading coffee producer due to the forced labour of enslaved Africans and Afro-Brazilians
“John” was just days from turning 16 when he was allegedly recruited to work on a Brazilian coffee farm that supplies the global coffeehouse chain Starbucks.
Soon after his birthday, he embarked on a 16-hour bus journey to the farm in the state of Minas Gerais – only to discover that none of what he had been promised would be fulfilled.
Continue reading...Gustavo Petro hits back after Álvaro Leyva accused him of going awol during official visit to France
A prominent Colombian politician and former minister has accused the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, of being a drug addict who allegedly went awol during an official visit to France.
In a damning letter to the South American leader, the former foreign minister Álvaro Leyva painted a dire picture of his one-time boss and ally, later publishing the text on his official X account.
Continue reading...Salvadorian president denounced as ‘tyrannical’ as he floats trading 252 prisoners with fellow authoritarian regime
The families of prisoners being held by the authoritarian governments of El Salvador and Venezuela have condemned President Nayib Bukele’s offer to swap 252 Venezuelan detainees sent to his jails by the Trump administration for the same number of political prisoners incarcerated by Nicolás Maduro’s regime.
Nelson Suárez, whose brother was among the Venezuelan immigrants sent from the US to a notorious maximum-security jail in El Salvador last month, said he was desperate for the release of his brother, from whom he has heard nothing in five weeks.
Continue reading...About 7.3m people have cast ballots over four days of advanced voting in sign of elevated interest in 28 April poll
A record 7.3 million people have cast their ballots over four days of advanced voting in Canada’s election, official figures showed on Tuesday, in a possible sign of elevated interest in the 28 April poll.
Elections Canada said its estimated tally for voting from Friday through Monday marked a 25% increase over the 5.8m advanced ballots cast in the 2021 vote.
Continue reading...Panel unanimously accepts charges against six more key allies of ex-president over alleged plan to keep him in office
A panel of Brazil’s supreme court justices has unanimously accepted criminal charges against six more key allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro over an alleged coup plot to keep him in office after his 2022 election defeat.
Last month, the panel unanimously accepted charges against Bolsonaro and seven close allies over the alleged coup plot following his loss to current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and ordered the former rightwing leader to stand trial.
Continue reading...Locals hail pontiff’s work in city’s poorest neighbourhoods – but express sadness that he never came back as pope
Before he left Argentina and moved to Italy to become pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio would visit the country’s villas miserias, not in a car flanked by security guards, but by bus – and this is what his people remember.
“He would come here, kiss our feet, the feet of the people,” said Aida Bogarin, aged 44. “It was everything to us.”
Continue reading...Nayib Bukele offered to exchange 252 Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador for 252 prisoners in Venezuela
Venezuela’s chief prosecutor has accused El Salvador’s president of being a “tyrannical” human trafficker after Nayib Bukele offered to exchange the 252 Venezuelan migrants deported to his country’s prisons by Donald Trump for the same number of political prisoners in Venezuela.
Bukele made the offer on Sunday night in a message addressed directly to his authoritarian counterpart Nicolás Maduro. “I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100% of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and delivery of an identical number … of the thousands of political prisoners that you hold,” El Salvador’s leader posted.
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