Activists celebrate move, but note that ‘a bull event without violence does not mean one without suffering’
Mexico City’s congress has voted to ban traditional bullfights and replace them with a new form of bloodless spectacle, marking the latest episode in a years-long legal battle to outlaw the practice in the capital.
Animal rights activists celebrated the move on Tuesday – even if it wasn’t the total ban on bullfighting they had been pushing for.
Continue reading...One detained man’s lawyer says he is gay artist who had fled persecution in his home country, not a gang member
A lawyer for one of the Venezuelan immigrants sent from the US to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador has accused the Trump administration of waging a “sickening” campaign of psychological warfare against asylum seekers and migrants.
“In my 15 years of representing people in removal proceedings in the United States, this is the most shocking thing that I’ve ever seen happen to one of our clients,” said Lindsay Toczylowski, a California-based lawyer for the Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) group.
Continue reading...Mark Carney-led ruling party projected to form majority months after political wipeout seemed inevitable
In January, Canadian pollsters and political pundits struggled to find fresh ways to describe the bleak prospects of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party, musing whether it would be a wipeout of existential proportions, or merely a catastrophic blowout.
But fresh polling released by three companies this week shows a stunning reversal of fortunes for the party: newly minted prime minister Mark Carney’s Liberals are projected to secure a majority government.
Continue reading...US citizen girl deported with mixed-status family, who filed complaint over denied healthcare and poor conditions
A family that was recently removed from the United States to Mexico has filed a complaint seeking an investigation into what they describe as “serious abuses” they say they faced during their detention in the US prior to their removal.
The mixed-status family includes two undocumented parents and six children, five of whom are US citizens. On 4 February, five of the children, including four who are US citizens, and the two parents were removed from Texas and sent to Mexico after they were stopped at an immigration checkpoint.
Continue reading...Aurelio Martínez believed killed after plane crashed while taking off from Roatán island in Caribbean
At least 12 people, including a prominent member of the Garifuna music scene have died after a small plane crashed into the sea while taking off from a Caribbean island off Honduras, officials said.
The Lanhsa airlines plane departed at nightfall on Monday from Roatán, one of the Central American country’s main tourist destinations, heading for the port of La Ceiba, on the mainland.
Continue reading...Advocates warn firings and funding freezes already risk poisoning drinking water and decimating fish population
Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s attacks on federal agencies and funding freezes will be “cataclysmic” for the environment of the sensitive Great Lakes region if not reversed, industry and environmental advocates in the region warn.
Initial actions taken since Trump returned to the White House in January – and put Musk in charge of slashing the federal government – already risk poisoning drinking water, decimating fish populations, and risking the jobs and health of tens of millions of people who rely on the lake system, they add.
Continue reading...Administration claims it didn’t stop flights despite judge’s instructions because he did not write it in the formal order
The Trump administration claimed to a federal judge on Monday that it did not recall deportation flights of hundreds of suspected Venezuelan gang members over the weekend despite his specific instructions because that was not expressly included in the formal written order issued afterwards.
The administration also said that even if James Boasberg, the chief US district judge in Washington, had included that instruction in his formal order, his authority to compel the planes to return disappeared the moment the planes entered international airspace.
Continue reading...Marcedes Myran’s remains found in search mission after Jeremy Skibicki preyed on Indigenous women in 2022
Canadian police have confirmed the identity of a second woman whose body was dumped at a private landfill near Winnipeg by a serial killer who preyed on Indigenous women and left their bodies hidden in trash.
The Manitoba Royal Canadian Mounted police said in a statement on Monday that the human remains found in the Prairie Green Landfill, north of Winnipeg, were those of Marcedes Myran, 26.
Continue reading...Trump administration used Alien Enemies Act to deport about 250 alleged gang members to El Salvador
The White House has denied allegations that it engaged in a “a blatant violation” of a judge’s order by deporting about 250 Venezuelan alleged gang members to El Salvador on Saturday, with the US border czar appearing to contradict the denial on Monday by declaring: “I don’t care what the judges think.”
The US district judge James E Boasberg has scheduled a hearing for Monday afternoon to demand an explanation about why his Saturday order temporarily blocking the deportation flights had apparently been ignored.
Continue reading...Canadian PM stresses importance of ‘reliable allies’ in Paris before travelling to London where he was received by king
Canada is the “most European of the non-European countries”, Mark Carney said during his first overseas trip as prime minister to France and the UK, where he is seeking stronger alliances to deal with Donald Trump’s attacks on his country’s sovereignty and economy.
Without mentioning the US president by name, Carney and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, made a joint appearance in Paris to show a united stance against what they said were economic and geopolitical crises – a reference to Trump’s trade war and “America first” diplomacy that has left longtime allies scrambling.
Continue reading...Maximo Napa, 61, says he survived by eating cockroaches, birds and a turtle – and thinking about his mother
A Peruvian fisher was found alive after drifting at sea for 94 days, a navy official said on Saturday, as he was discharged from hospital after his ordeal.
Maximo Napa, 61, was rescued in his small fishing boat on Tuesday after being spotted by an Ecuadorian vessel off the coast of Chimbote in northern Peru.
Continue reading...Voters reflect on their priorities and mood shifts in their communities before a crucial contest
When the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, resigned in early January, after months of pressure to quit, the approval ratings of the progressive firebrand had dropped from their peak of 65% in September 2016 to 22%.
At the end of last year, the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, described by many as “Trump Lite”, was the clear favourite to win Canada’s next general election, and the top pick of 45% of Canadians for prime minister. At the time, the three biggest issues for voters were all economic: reducing the cost of everyday items, inflation and interest rates, and access to affordable housing.
Continue reading...Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor sworn in and expected to call election soon
Mark Carney has said Canada will never be part of the US, after being sworn in as the country’s 24th prime minister in a sudden rise to power.
“We will never, in any shape or form, be part of the US,” the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England told a crowd outside Rideau Hall in Ottawa, rejecting Donald Trump’s annexation threats. “We are very fundamentally a different country.”
Continue reading...Commentary urged CK Hutchison to ‘think twice’ about ‘what position and side they are on’ in sale to US investors
China has criticised the sale of the business that controls ports in Panama to US investors, saying the Hong Kong-based parent company should “think twice” and that the $22.8bn deal is “power politics” that is not in the country’s national interest.
Shares in the Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison fell more than 6% on Friday after a critical commentary appeared in the Beijing-backed newspaper Ta Kung Pao in Hong Kong.
Continue reading...Experts say legislation will prevent vulnerable people from accessing justice in latest government-backed crackdown
Human rights groups in Peru have voiced alarm over a controversial anti-NGO law that prevents civil society organisations from taking legal action against the state for human rights abuses – a move that activists say will prevent the vulnerable from accessing justice.
Peru’s deeply unpopular congress added a harsher amendment to an existing bill which was fast-tracked through the chamber with 81 votes in favour, 16 against and four abstentions on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Document described as interim national security guidance calls on US military to create options
The Trump administration has called on the Pentagon to provide military options to ensure the country has full access to the Panama canal, two US officials told Reuters on Thursday.
Donald Trump has said repeatedly he wants to “take back” the Panama canal, which is located at the narrowest part of the isthmus between North and South America and is considered one of the world’s most strategically important waterways, but he has not offered specifics about how he would do so, or if military action might be required.
Continue reading...Photographer in coma and scores injured as police use teargas, rubber bullets and water cannon against retirees
Argentina’s hardline security minister is facing calls to resign after the violent police response to a protest by pensioners left a photographer in a coma and scores of other people injured.
More than 1,000 riot police used teargas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse demonstrators late on Wednesday.
Continue reading...New requirement hardens enforcement of existing law that hasn’t been applied consistently to Canadians entering the United States
Canadians who visit the US for more than 30 days will be required to register with authorities and have their fingerprints taken, as the Trump administration tightens migration rules amid soaring tensions between the North American neighbors.
The new requirement, effective from 11 April, will harden enforcement of an existing law, which states that all foreign nationals 14 years old or older who plan to stay in the US for 30 days or more must register with the authorities.
Continue reading...Canadian government says it will follow ‘dollar-by-dollar’ approach and institute 25% tariffs on US imports
Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on nearly C$30bn worth of American imports after US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports went into effect on Wednesday.
The Canadian government said it will be following a “dollar-by-dollar” approach and institute 25% tariffs on American imports, including steel, computers and sports equipment.
Continue reading...Break in negotiations comes as Trump escalates trade war with Canada and threatens its sovereignty
The United States has paused negotiations with Canada on a key water-sharing treaty as Donald Trump continues both his threats to annex his northern neighbour and to upend major agreements governing relations between the two counties.
British Columbia’s energy ministry said officials south of the border are “conducting a broad review” of the Columbia River Treaty, the 61-year-old pact that governs transnational flood control, power generation and water supply.
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