Category Archives: Americas

‘A painful loss for our community’: Mexico’s queer population demands answers in magistrate death

Posted on by

Queer activists protest after first non-binary magistrate in nation Jesús Ociel Baena and partner found dead in home

Against the bland, beige backdrop of Mexico’s electoral courtrooms, Jesús Ociel Baena was radiant. The non-binary magistrate paired a shirt and tie with colorful skirts, high heels and bright red lipstick. In the heat of Aguascalientes state, Baena, who used they/their pronouns, would theatrically brandish a rainbow fan to cool down.

Proudly out in the courtroom, the classroom and on social media, Baena was a beacon for Mexico’s queer population, and their death this week has sent shock waves through an embattled community.

Continue reading...

Canadian peace activist confirmed killed in Hamas attack

Posted on by

Officials confirm ‘lifelong advocate for peace’ Vivian Silver, 74, killed after initial reports suggested she had been taken hostage

Vivian Silver, a Canadian-born activist who spent decades working to foster peace between Israelis and Palestinians, has been confirmed killed after initial reports suggested she had been kidnapped during the 7 October Hamas attacks.

In a statement on Tuesday, Idit Shamir, Toronto’s Israeli consul general, confirmed the 74-year-old had been killed by Hamas during the assault on Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel.

Continue reading...

Mexico’s first openly non-binary magistrate found dead at home

Posted on by

Authorities look into Jesús Ociel Baena’s cause of death as activists urge full investigation into gender identity-related threats

Mexico’s first openly non-binary magistrate and a prominent LGBTQ+ activist has been found dead at home in the central state of Aguascalientes.

Jesús Ociel Baena, who used they/them pronouns, was celebrated across Latin America for their work to advance the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

Continue reading...

Joan Jara, British dancer and Victor Jara’s widow, dies aged 96

Posted on by

The human rights activist died two weeks before her husband’s killer is due for extradition from US to Chile

The British dancer, choreographer and human rights activist Joan Jara, widow of the late Chilean folk singer Víctor Jara, has died in Santiago at the age of 96, two weeks before her husband’s killer is due to be extradited from the US to Chile.

She became a symbol of opposition to the Chilean dictatorship for her unrelenting pursuit of truth and justice for her husband, who was brutally tortured and killed after Gen Augusto Pinochet’s coup d’état.

Continue reading...

Argentina’s far-right Milei angers Falklands veterans with Thatcher praise

Posted on by

Presidential candidate calls former UK prime minister one of ‘the great leaders in the history of humanity’ during debate

Argentina’s libertarian presidential candidate, Javier Milei, has been pilloried by veterans of the Falklands war after he praised Margaret Thatcher as one of “the great leaders in the history of humanity” during the final electoral debate before next Sunday’s election.

Milei – a self-described anarcho-capitalist – has frequently expressed admiration for Thatcher’s free-market policies. But she is still reviled in Argentina for ordering the sinking of the General Belgrano cruiser, killing 323 people on board, during the 1982 war with the UK over the Falkland islands, which Argentina claims as Islas Malvinas.

Continue reading...

Dominica creates world’s first marine protected area for sperm whales

Posted on by

Nearly 300 sq miles of water on west of Caribbean island to be designated as a reserve for endangered animals

The tiny Caribbean island of Dominica is creating the world’s first marine protected area for one of Earth’s largest animals: the endangered sperm whale.

Nearly 300 sq miles (800 sq km) of royal blue waters on the western side of the island nation that serve as key nursing and feeding grounds will be designated as a reserve, the government announced on Monday.

Continue reading...

Canada investigates alleged ‘threats’ against Air India after boycott call

Posted on by

Officials launch investigation after separatist leader posts video warning Sikhs against flying with airline on 19 November

Canadian officials and the Royal Canadian Mounted police are investigating alleged “threats” against Air India after a separatist leader warned Sikhs against flying with the airline on 19 November.

The US-based activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun posted a video last week in which he called for a boycott of India’s flagship carrier.

Continue reading...

Netflix’s movie Hurricane Season stirs debate over violent depiction of Mexico

Posted on by

Based on the prize-winning book by Fernanda Melchor, film depicts brutality stemming from ‘war on drugs’ that began in 2006

A group of children find a body in the river: the village witch, her throat slit, writhing with snakes.

The opening scene of Hurricane Season, a new Netflix movie based on Mexican novelist Fernanda Melchor’s book, plunges the viewer straight into a tropical, lawless, superstitious version of rural Veracruz, Melchor’s home state.

Continue reading...

Shots fired at another Jewish school in Montreal amid tensions over Israel-Hamas war

Posted on by

Third such case in less than a week in Canadian city but unclear if incidents are related

A Jewish school in Montreal was hit by gunfire, according to local media, marking the Canadian city’s third such attack in less than a week amid heightened tensions over the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

No one was injured when the facade of Yeshiva Gedola of Montreal was struck early on Sunday. Bullet marks and shells were found after residents heard gunfire, CBC News in Canada reported.

Continue reading...

Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard found guilty of sexual assault

Posted on by

Prosecutors had said the 82-year-old lured women to a private bedroom suite after inviting them on a tour of his headquarters

The former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard has been found guilty on four counts of sexual assault after five women testified he used a private bedroom suite in his company headquarters to assault them.

The verdict by a Toronto jury came midday on Sunday after five days of deliberation.

Continue reading...

‘Very difficult’: father of Luis Díaz speaks for first time after release by Colombia guerillas

Posted on by

Luis Manuel Díaz has described how he spent 12 days trekking through mountains with almost no sleep

The father of Liverpool footballer Luis Díaz has spoken publicly of how he endured almost two weeks of arduous treks and sleepless nights while held captive by armed guerrillas on the Colombian-Venezuelan border.

Luis Manuel Díaz, 58, said: “It was a lot of horseback riding, really hard, a lot of mountains, a lot of rain, too many insects.” A weak Díaz, who was helped to and from a chair by his family, told journalists in his home town of Barrancas in Colombia: “I couldn’t sleep peacefully, it was very difficult, almost 12 days without sleep.”

Continue reading...

Canada reels at ‘deliberate’ killing of boy, 11, in gangland hit targeting father

Posted on by

Police call shooting of unnamed boy and his father, Harpreet Uppal, at Edmonton gas station ‘sick and twisted’

An 11-year-old boy has been deliberately shot and killed alongside his father in what police have called a “sick and twisted” escalation of gang violence in the Canadian city of Edmonton.

The boy, who has not been named, was sitting next to his 41-year-old father, Harpreet Uppal, in their vehicle outside an Edmonton gas station on Thursday when they were attacked, police said on Friday. Another child, a friend of the boy, was also present but physically unharmed.

Continue reading...

Colombia passes ambitious ‘junk food law’ to tackle lifestyle diseases

Posted on by

The Latin American country is one of the first in the world to introduce a health tax targeting ultra-processed foods

A new law in Colombia making it one of the first countries in the world to explicitly tax ultra-processed food has been hailed by campaigners and health experts who say it could set an example for other countries.

After years of campaigning, the “junk food law” came into force this month and a levy will be introduced gradually. An additional tax on affected foods will begin at 10% immediately, rising to 15% next year and reaching 20% in 2025.

Continue reading...

Drop in Latin American drinking prompts Diageo to issue profits warning

Posted on by

Shares fall in world’s largest spririts company as consumers seek cheaper brands

The Guinness to Johnnie Walker drinks maker Diageo has issued a profit warning as a result of cash-strapped customers in Latin America and the Caribbean consuming less alcohol and seeking cheaper brands.

Shares in the world’s largest spirits company plunged more than 11% in early trading on Friday, making it the biggest faller in the FTSE 100, as investors worried that the trend in the region might spread to other markets.

Continue reading...

On mute: Tijuana passes law banning ballads praising Mexican drug trade

Posted on by

Politicians have long sought to silence the genre, but previous clampdowns have only boosted its popularity

A typical song by Peso Pluma, one of Mexico’s most popular singers, might start with a guitar and a trumpet, sounding like something for the older crowd – but then come the lyrics telling of drug shipments, stacks of cash and diamond-encrusted pistols.

Peso Pluma has produced some of the most notorious recent examples of narcocorridos – ballads celebrating the exploits of the Mexican underworld that are hugely popular not just at home but across Latin America and the US.

Continue reading...

Justin Trudeau condemns shots fired at two Jewish schools in Montreal

Posted on by

Canadian prime minister says ‘attacking each other is not who we are’ after clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups

Justin Trudeau has condemned recent violence in Canada after shots were fired at two Jewish schools in Montreal and clashes broke out between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian students at a university in the city.

Police on Thursday said they were investigating overnight shootings at two Jewish schools in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood after staff reported finding bullet holes in the front doors of the schools.

Continue reading...

Canada: murder charge for ex-boyfriend of woman abducted by fake police

Posted on by

Case of Elnaz Hajtamiri, taken from Ontario home by three men with police equipment in January 2022, had stumped investigators

The ex-boyfriend of a Canadian woman who was abducted by fake police officers has been charged with first-degree murder, marking the latest twist in a high-profile kidnapping case that had appeared to stump investigators for nearly two years.

Elnaz Hajtamiri was dragged from a property in an Ontario beach community on 12 January 2022 by three men with police equipment who forced their way into the home and hauled her barefoot through the snow to a waiting vehicle.

Continue reading...

Mexico authorities find 123 people trapped in locked trailer

Posted on by

Majority of migrants rescued in Matehuala were from Central and South America and included 34 children

Authorities have found 123 people from Central and South America trapped in a trailer in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, the country’s immigration agency said on Thursday.

Officials from the state attorney general’s office found the people in Matehuala, a city on the border of Nuevo Leon, on Wednesday after a local reported hearing cries for help from a locked trailer box.

Continue reading...

Ex-minister Gavin Williamson warned as he takes job at payment card provider

Posted on by

Advisory committee on business appointments tells MP he must not utilise contacts in government in Lanistar role

The former cabinet minister Gavin Williamson has taken a job at a firm launching a payment card “built for the influencer lifestyle”, which was previously hit with a consumer warning by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and currently only offers its product in Brazil.

Williamson has gained permission to join the advisory board of Lanistar, whose website says it wants to roll out its virtual payment card and crypto services to the UK and EU.

Continue reading...

Economists warn electing far-right Milei would spell ‘devastation’ for Argentina

Posted on by

More than 100 economists including Thomas Piketty and Jayati Ghosh publish open letter ahead of country’s 19 November election

The election of the radical rightwing economist Javier Milei as president of Argentina would probably inflict further economic “devastation” and social chaos on the South American country, a group of more than 100 leading economists has warned.

In an open letter, published ahead of Argentina’s crunch 19 November election, the economists said they understood the “deep-seated desire for economic stability” among voters, given Argentina’s frequent financial crises and recurring bouts of very high inflation.

Continue reading...