Category Archives: Americas

Ecuador declares emergency as drug-gang kingpin vanishes from prison

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Huge manhunt under way after Adolfo Macías of Los Choneros disappears from cell and guards taken hostage amid prison riots

Ecuador has declared a state of emergency after one of the country’s most dangerous criminals vanished from his cell and prison guards were overpowered and taken hostage amid riots at prisons across the country.

A huge manhunt was under way on Monday as thousands of soldiers and police searched for Adolfo Macías, alias Fito, the convicted leader of the powerful drug gang Los Choneros.

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‘All feminists are under attack’: ultra-right threat in Milei’s Argentina forces writer into exile

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The new president’s rightwing supporters are targeting journalists and women’s rights activists – but the fight goes on

Female journalists who write about gender issues say they are having to deal with a toxic wave of threats against them in Argentina. Some are fighting back, others are lying low and one has gone into self-imposed exile for her safety.

“We are facing a witch-hunt from the ultra-right,” said the author, journalist and activist Luciana Peker, who recently left Argentina for an undisclosed location due to the weight of threats against her.

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Weather tracker: Western Canada and parts of US brace for cold snap

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Temperatures could be 10-15C below seasonal average in some areas, with Calgary and Edmonton experiencing low of -30C

Arctic air will sweep across western Canada and parts of the US early this week, leading to a cold snap that will probably last through the rest of this week and possibly beyond.

By Wednesday, temperatures in western Canada could be as much as 10-15C below the seasonal average. Minimum temperatures in Calgary and Edmonton could plummet as low as -30C by Friday, with some rural areas experiencing even lower temperatures. In contrast, temperatures on the east coast will be significantly above average, with Ottawa reaching highs of about 5C, almost 10C above the seasonal average. The cold spell will spread into northern and western parts of the US by Friday, with temperatures widely reaching 5-15C below average.

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Two Cuban documentaries show effects of US sanctions on island nation

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Liz Oliva Fernández says the sanctions, imposed 60 years ago and upheld through Biden, have led to a ‘desperate situation’

A Cuban journalist is looking to spread awareness of the US trade embargo in two illuminating documentaries arriving in early 2024.

Liz Oliva Fernández says whenever she covered news or events on the island, be it the push for democratic reforms, or the private businesses springing up after the Castros loosened their grip on power, they always intersected with the sanctions.

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Slain Amazon activist Bruno Pereira’s son fighting rare form of cancer

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Pedro, five, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma; a fund has been set up so that his family can afford expensive chemotherapy drug

Leading artists, Indigenous activists and politicians across Brazil are urging people to contribute to a fund to help the son of the slain Amazon activist Bruno Pereira, who has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Pedro Pereira, five, the son of anthropologist Beatriz Matos and Bruno Pereira – who was ambushed and killed in the western Amazon in June 2022 alongside the British journalist Dom Phillips – was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma last year.

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FDA approves program to allow Florida to import Canadian prescription drugs

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State will be first to import drugs under federal program that Florida governor says could save consumers $150m in first year

A public health policy that won rare backing from both the Biden and Trump administrations looks ready to open a flow of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada to Florida, ending a decades-long block on the importation of certain pharmaceuticals to the US.

The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the state approval under a drugs importation program that seeks to lower the cost of medicines for US consumers without imposing additional risks to their health or safety.

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Mexican cartel provided wifi to locals – with threat of death if they didn’t use it

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Criminal group charged $20-$30 a month to about 5,000 people as gangs diversify into sectors other than the drug trade

A cartel in the embattled central Mexico state of Michoacán set up its own makeshift internet antennas and told locals they had to pay to use its wifi service or they would be killed, according to prosecutors.

Dubbed “narco-antennas” by local media, the cartel’s system involved internet antennas set up in various towns built with stolen equipment.

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Transatlantic slavery continued for years after 1867, historian finds

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Exclusive: Evidence found by Hannah Durkin includes ships landing in Cuba in 1872, and people held in Benin in 1873

Historians have generally assumed that the transatlantic slave trade ended in 1867, but it actually continued into the following decade, according to new research.

Dr Hannah Durkin, an historian and former Newcastle University lecturer, has unearthed evidence that two slave ships landed in Cuba in 1872. One vessel, flying the Portuguese flag, had 200 captives aged from 10 to 40, and the second is believed to have been a US ship with 630 prisoners packed into its hold.

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Record half million people crossed the treacherous Darién Gap in 2023

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Jungle between Colombia and Panama marks the start of the dangerous trek north from South America to the United States

A record 520,000 people crossed the treacherous jungle between Colombia and Panama known as the Darién Gap in 2023, more than double the number reported the year before, according to new figures from the government of Panama.

The people who made the journey that marks the start of the dangerous trek north from South America to the United States last year were mostly from Venezuela, Ecuador, Haiti and China, according to the numbers from Panama’s migration agency.

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Ana Ofelia Murguía, Mexican actor and voice of Disney’s Coco, dies aged 90

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Murguía, who voiced titular character in Oscar-winning animated Pixar film, appeared in more than 100 roles spanning cinema, stage and television

Ana Ofelia Murguía, the Mexican actor who voiced the titular character of Disney and Pixar film Coco, has died aged 90.

Her death was announced “with deep sadness” on social media by Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature, which said Murguía’s “artistic career was vital for the performing arts of Mexico”. Her cause of death was not given.

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Plane detained in France sheds light on Nicaragua’s role in US migrant crisis

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Flight contained 303 Indians en route to Central American country whose light visa requirements have attracted US-bound travelers

The detention in France of a charter plane bound for Nicaragua has renewed attention on the Central American nation’s role as a springboard for migrants from across the world seeking to make their way to the United States.

The flight, which left the United Arab Emirates on 21 December with 303 passengers of Indian nationality, was grounded during a refueling stop after an anonymous tip-off alleging human trafficking.

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‘El Jefe’: is Karina Milei the power behind Argentina’s presidential throne?

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Javier Milei swept aside an anti-nepotism law to appoint his sister to a high-ranking position – but who is she?

When Javier Milei first walked into Argentina’s presidential palace earlier this month, the radical libertarian leader was not accompanied by his vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, nor his partner, the actor Fátima Flórez.

Milei’s escort at this key political moment was a woman who many analysts describe as the true power behind his throne: his sister, Karina.

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California dazzled by ‘extremely rare’ killer whale sightings off southern coast

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A group of 10 orcas has been seen leaping into the air to catch prey, delighting watchers and experts for the past two weeks

Experts and whale watchers have been dazzled by a series of orca sightings off the southern California coast that are being described as “extremely rare”.

A group of 10 whales – including a calf just a few months old – has been spotted for the past two weeks off the coast of southern California, between Oxnard and San Diego. Images from social media show the giant creatures leaping into the air to catch dolphins and coming within feet of boats full of eager viewers.

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Milei says Argentina will not be joining Brics bloc in policy reversal

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Far-right president says not ‘opportune’ for Argentina – which had been set to become a member on 1 January – to be part of alliance

Argentina has formally announced that it will not join the Brics bloc of developing economies, the latest in a dramatic shift in foreign and economic policy by Argentina’s new far-right populist president, Javier Milei.

In a letter addressed to the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – all members of the alliance – Milei said the moment was not “opportune” for Argentina to join as a full member. The letter was dated a week ago, 22 December, but released by the Argentinian government on Friday, the last working day of 2023.

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Weather tracker: rain batters Argentina and DRC as fog shrouds India and Pakistan

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Turkey also affected by fog, with 10 killed and 57 injured in serious road crash involving three buses

During the Christmas period, parts of South America experienced intense showers and thunderstorms, resulting in substantial rainfall in various regions. On Monday, more than 100mm of rain fell in the Catamarca province in Argentina, which led to flash floods. A sudden surge in river water levels then caused the collapse of a pedestrian bridge, which was the only link between the towns of Rincón and Pomán. While many other roads in the region were damaged and houses were flooded, no casualties were reported.

The unique topography of Catamarca aided the formation of a near-stationary convective shower over Pomán, unleashing several hours of torrential rain and causing catastrophic flooding.

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Controversial Brazil law curbing Indigenous rights comes into force

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‘Time marker’ legislation means Indigenous peoples can only lay claim to lands they occupied in 1988, invalidating scores of claims

A controversial law curtailing Indigenous rights in Brazil has come into force, marking a victory for the powerful agribusiness caucus in congress.

The new legislation upholds the so-called “time marker” theory (marco temporal), which establishes that Indigenous peoples can only lay claim to land they physically occupied as of October 1988, when the current constitution was promulgated.

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Venezuela mounts military exercises as UK sends warship to support Guyana

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Nicolás Maduro orders ‘defensive’ manoeuvres as British Navy deploys vessel in territorial dispute

Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro has ordered more than 5,600 military personnel to participate in “defensive” exercises, after the UK deployed a warship to waters off the coast of Guyana in a show of support for the former British colony.

Maduro said he was launching an action “of a defensive nature in response to the provocation and threat of the UK against peace and the sovereignty of our country”.

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US-Mexico border talks yield ‘important agreements’ on rail and bridge crossings

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Two countries agree to enhance efforts to tackle human smuggling, poverty and violence and promote legal ‘pathways’

US and Mexican officials have hailed the success of talks held on Wednesday aimed at curbing historically high unauthorized immigration across their shared, 2,000-mile border that risks becoming a humanitarian disaster and an election year political crisis for Joe Biden.

After the closed-door meeting between the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the Mexican foreign minister, Alicia Bárcena, the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, hailed what he described as “important agreements”.

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Mexico: 14 kidnapped from village that rose up and killed cartel members

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Farmers in Texcaltitlán in central Mexico, tired of being extorted, chased down gang members and killed 10 earlier this month

A drug cartel in central Mexico has kidnapped 14 local residents, including four children, in apparent retaliation for an uprising by angry farmers earlier this month that killed 10 cartel gunmen, officials said.

Farmers in the village of Texcaltitlán and a neighboring hamlet had apparently grown tired of cartel extortions. Armed only with sickles and hunting rifles, they chased down suspected gang members amid bursts of automatic gunfire on 8 December, hacking, shooting and burning them. Four villagers also died in the clash.

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Taylor Swift fan died of heat exhaustion at Rio concert, forensics report finds

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Ana Clara Benevides, 23, died hours after the singer’s 17 November show – a day when temperatures hit 40C

Heat exhaustion caused the death of a Brazilian fan who attended a Taylor Swift concert in November, according to a forensics report obtained by the Associated Press on Wednesday.

Ana Clara Benevides, 23, passed out during Swift’s second song at the show in Rio de Janeiro on 17 November and died hours later at a local hospital. Temperatures in the city that day were at about 40C (105F).

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