Category Archives: Americas

Glacial rivers absorb carbon faster than rainforests, scientists find

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‘Total surprise’ discovery overturns conventional understanding of rivers

In the turbid, frigid waters roaring from the glaciers of Canada’s high Arctic, researchers have made a surprising discovery: for decades, the northern rivers secretly pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a rate faster than the Amazon rainforest.

The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, flip the conventional understanding of rivers, which are largely viewed as sources of carbon emissions.

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An explosion of protest, a howl of rage – but not a Latin American spring

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From Chile to Ecuador and Bolivia to Haiti police and protesters are clashing on the streets, but what are the common threads and will they lead to change?

Tanks on the streets in Chile. Barricades and bloodshed in Bolivia. Weeks of unrest that have pushed Haiti to the brink and forced Ecuador’s president to relocate his government.

“This is a social revolution,” said Andrea Lyn, a 61-year-old actor who took to the streets of Santiago this week. “It is us saying: ‘No more’.”

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Presidential apology and reform pledge fail to quell Chile protests

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  • Thousands take to streets of Santiago for sixth day running
  • Piñera scraps fare hike and raises pensions and minimum wage

Tens of thousands of protesters have flooded Chile’s capital, setting up flaming barricades and clashing with riot police after an apology and promises of economic reforms from President Sebastián Piñera failed to quell unrest and rioting has led to at least 18 deaths.

Trade unionists in the world’s top copper-producing country joined demonstrators with a general strike in a movement that started with anger at a small rise in subway fares, but expanded into protests against inequality and to demand improvements in education, healthcare and wages in one of Latin America’s wealthiest, but most unequal nations.

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Evo Morales alleges coup attempt as Bolivia opposition claims ‘giant fraud’

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President said in a televised speech the right ‘prepared the coup’ with foreign powers amid growing tensions over the election

Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, has accused opposition leaders and foreign powers of attempting a “coup” against him amid growing tensions over the result of Sunday’s desperately tight election.

In an angry televised speech on Wednesday, Morales said: “A coup d’etat is under way. The right wing prepared the coup with international support.”

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Chilean leader tries to calm unrest with wage rises and taxes on rich

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Sebastián Piñera announces plans after riot police use teargas to disperse protesters

The Chilean president, Sebastián Piñera, has called for modest rises to low incomes and increased taxes on the rich after the fifth night of anger on the streets raised the death toll in the unrest to 15.

Rioting, arson attacks and violent clashes wracked Chile on Tuesday night. About half of the normally stable country’s 16 regions remained under an emergency decree and some were subject to a military curfew, the first since Chile returned to democracy in 1990, barring natural disasters.

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Trudeau faces rough road as Canada’s minority parties lay out their conditions

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PM faces landscape that will require skill to pass legislation – and rivals who could unseat his government on a whim

After eking out a win in the first major test of his popularity since sweeping to power in 2015, Justin Trudeau was given his first taste of minority government on Tuesday, as rival party leaders begin laying out their conditions for the Liberal leader to remain as Canada’s prime minister.

“Everything is on the table,” Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the leftwing New Democratic party, told reporters.

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Conservatives have put Trudeau on notice, says Andrew Scheer – video

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Canada's Conservative party leader, Andrew Scheer, said he had spoken to Justin Trudeau to congratulate him on winning the most seats. In his  concession speech he added that the election result, in which the Liberals lost 20 seats, showed that the 'Conservatives have put Trudeau on notice'. Scheer said: 'Mr Trudeau, when your government falls, Conservatives will be ready and we will win'

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Canada election 2019: ‘We’ll govern for everyone’ says Trudeau, after narrow win – as it happened

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Liberal Party holds on to power in Canadian federal election, but loses majority

We’re now going to close our live coverage of the Canadian election. Here is an updated version of the summary my colleague Kate Lyons posted earlier.

Related: Justin Trudeau's victory is a death knell for Canada's fledgling far-right

Related: Canada elections: Justin Trudeau wins narrow victory to form minority government

The Liberal party has tweeted this photo of Justin Trudeau embracing supporters.

To everyone who knocked doors, made calls, came to an event, donated, voted - THANK YOU! pic.twitter.com/EijoiAVRz6

Andrew Scheer and Canada's Conservatives are committed to putting more money in your pockets so you can get ahead.#cdnpoli #elxn43 pic.twitter.com/Pbbh5T5328

We're here because of every door knocked and dollar donated. Every story shared. Every Canadian who believed in Jagmeet and our team. We're so grateful to each and every one of you.

Tomorrow our work together starts again. Tonight, let's celebrate a truly unforgettable campaign. pic.twitter.com/wYeOOxDu5G

Le Québec, c’est vous. ⚜️#polcan #elxn43 #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/qKqaH7anC3

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Trudeau triumphs in Canadian election – in pictures

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Justin Trudeau has won a second term as Canada’s prime minister, losing his majority but delivering unexpectedly strong results despite having been weakened by a series of scandals that tarnished his image as a liberal icon

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Trudeau says voters chose ‘progressive agenda’ after Canadian election win – video

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Justin Trudeau has won a second term as prime minister of Canada and will lead a minority government as his Liberal party led in 146 out of 304 electoral districts. Addressing supporters, Trudeau said the country had voted in favour of a 'progressive agenda' and committed his government to fighting for all Canadians, not just those who voted for him.

Early on Tuesday, barely a minute after Andrew Scheer started addressing supporters at Conservative HQ, Trudeau took to the stage in Montreal to deliver his victory speech, in a highly unconventional moment of political scheduling

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Justin Trudeau’s victory is a death knell for Canada’s fledgling far-right

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Canada’s 43rd election campaign capped a particularly bruising year for Trudeau, but in the end his right-leaning rivals fared worse

Liberal supporters trickled into the party headquarters in downtown Montreal on Monday night, apparently worried that they were about to witness an electoral comeuppance for Justin Trudeau.

Yet any jitters quickly turned to cheers as the party secured a minority government, thereby rescuing Trudeau’s legacy – and probably tilting Canada’s political landscape further to the left in the process.

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Canada elections: Justin Trudeau wins narrow victory to form minority government

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Liberals secure four more years in power despite lingering criticism over handling of corruption inquiry and blackface scandal

Justin Trudeau has won a second term as Canada’s prime minister after the country’s federal election, but his narrow victory means he will lead a minority government that will be forced to depend on other parties to govern.

The Liberals were leading or victorious in 146 out of 304 electoral districts that had reported results by about 10:30pm Toronto time on Monday, according to the national broadcaster CBC. Trudeau needed to win 170 seats to secure a second majority government.

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Chile on edge as worst unrest in three decades claims 11 lives

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More clashes likely after Piñera expands state of emergency following ‘weekend of rage’

Latin America’s most prosperous country is braced for fresh upheaval after Chile’s president expanded a state of emergency beyond the capital and the death toll from three days of violence rose to 11.

“We are at war with a powerful and uncompromising enemy that respects nothing and no one,” Sebastián Piñera declared in an unyielding late-night address on Sunday.

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The lost river: Mexicans fight for mighty waterway taken by the US

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The Colorado River serves over 35 million Americans before reaching Mexico – but it is dammed at the border, leaving locals on the other side with a dry delta

The temperature is rising toward 45C (113F) as young brothers Daniel and Dilan Rodríguez skip towards a bridge over the Colorado River in the Mexican border town of San Luis Río Colorado. But there is no water flowing through the channel of one of the world’s mightiest waterways. The pair run down the river bank and cheerfully splash through stagnant puddles dotted about the riverbed.

“We wish we had a river, so we could swim, and jump and sail my cousin’s boat,” said Daniel, 12. “At least we have puddles to make mud balls, that can be fun.”

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Chile: protests rage on as president extends state of emergency

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Seven dead as protesters loot supermarkets one day after Sebastián Piñera suspends price hikes that sparked unrest

Protests and violence in Chile have spilled over into a new day and left at least seven people dead despite the president cancelling a subway fare increase that prompted the violent demonstrations.

Santiago and other Chilean cities have been engulfed by several days of riots, along with peaceful protests, after the increase in public transport costs. Authorities said seven people had been killed in incidents related to the protests, without giving further details.

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McDonald’s get their scampi in a bunch over burger joint’s Effing Filet O’ Fish

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When the fast-food giant’s lawyers swooped on a small Canadian restaurant over its fish burger, the response was pithy

When Canadian chef Paul Shufelt decided to market a new burger at his Edmonton restaurant, he wanted to pay homage to the fast-food greats that have come before him – not find himself embroiled in a legal battle with a multinational corporation.

After creating a cod burger with coleslaw and red onions, Woodshed Burgers named their newest item the Effing Filet O’ Fish, a reference to both local company Effing Seafood, which provided the seafood, and the famous McDonald’s sandwich.

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Obrador and Trump speak in aftermath of shootout over El Chapo’s son

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Mexico’s foreign minister said on Saturday that the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and Donald Trump had agreed to take swift action to stem the flow of illegal weapons from the US into Mexico.

Related: 'We do not want war': Mexico president defends release of El Chapo’s son

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Chile protests: state of emergency declared in Santiago as violence escalates

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President announces order in televised address after fare-dodging protest by students in capital widens


A state of emergency has been declared in the Chilean capital after simmering protests against a rise in metro fares spilled out into widespread vandalism and violence fuelled by rising cost-of-living pressures.
As ordained by Chile’s dictatorship-era constitution, the state of emergency will apply to Santiago and can last for 15 days. It grants the government additional powers to restrict citizens’ freedom of movement and their right to assembly. Ominously, soldiers will return to the streets for the first time since an earthquake devastated parts of the country in 2010.

“The aim is to ensure public order and the safety of public and private property,” President Sebastián Piñera said in a televised address, “There will be no room for violence in a country with the rule of law at its core.”

On Friday evening, the palm trees in Santiago’s colonial Plaza de Armas were shrouded in plumes of tear gas thrown by police agents to disperse protesters, and the headquarters of Italian energy company Enel were engulfed in orange flames as the sounds of helicopters and wailing sirens filled the night sky.

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Justin Trudeau is a fake progressive. Now Canada must vote for real ones | Martin Lukacs

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Ahead of Monday’s election, little divides the Liberal prime minister and the reactionary Conservatives. But there is an alternative

How far Justin Trudeau’s star has fallen. In 2015, the rise of this hopey-changey wunderkind was supposed to usher in a bold new Canadian era: democratic reform, ambitious climate action, a plan to tackle inequality, and a new, respectful relationship with Indigenous peoples. But his Liberal party’s bid for re-election, ahead of the election on Monday, looks altogether different: this campaign is dominated by warnings, in ominous tones, about the threat posed by a resurgent, rightwing Conservative party.

Related: Canada election: can Trudeau excite young voters let down by broken promises?

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