Mexico church roof collapses during mass, killing at least 10 and injuring 60

A ‘structural failure’ during Sunday service trapped dozens in Santa Cruz church in Gulf coast city of Ciudad Madero

The roof of a church has collapsed in northern Mexico during a Sunday mass, killing at least 10 people and injuring about 60, authorities said as searchers probed the wreckage late into the night looking for survivors and other victims.

Approximately 30 parishioners were believed to have been trapped in the rubble when the roof caved in, officials said. Searchers crawled under the roof slabs and officials brought in dogs to help search for possible survivors.

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Woman shields son from black bear eating birthday picnic in Mexico

Silvia Macías was celebrating 15th birthday of son Santiago when bear appeared and gulped down tacos

A woman in Mexico shielded her son after a bear leaped on to a picnic table, inches from his face, and devoured the tacos and enchiladas meant for his birthday dinner.

Silvia Macías of Mexico City had travelled to the Chipinque Park on the outskirts of the northern city of Monterrey to celebrate the 15th birthday of her son, Santiago, who has Down’s syndrome.

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Mexican film showing abuse in military is ‘a fraction’ of reality, says star

Officials react defensively to Heroico, which has been compared to Full Metal Jacket for its scenes of physical and psychological abuse

Mexico’s national guard has been urging its troops to go to see Héroes, a rousingly patriotic film about a 19th-century US invasion, in an apparent attempt to drown out the similarly named Heroico a film which paints a much less flattering picture of the armed forces.

Héroes tells the story of the Battle of Chapultepec during the 1846-48 Mexican-American war and the “Child Heroes” – six cadets who refused to retreat and instead fought to the death. The last of them supposedly leapt from the ramparts holding the Mexican flag, to prevent its capture.

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Mexican cartels are fifth-largest employers in the country, study finds

Organized crime groups have about 175,000 members and authors say the best way to reduce violence is to cut membership

Organised crime groups in Mexico have about 175,000 members – making them the fifth-biggest employer in the country, according to new research published in the journal Science.

Using a decade of data on homicides, missing persons and incarcerations, as well as information about interactions between rival factions, the paper published on Thursday mathematically modeled overall cartel membership, and how levels of violence would respond to a range of policies.

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Israeli ambassador protests as Iranian president speaks – as it happened

The United Nations general assembly liveblog is now closed, but please see the following stories to stay on top of the day’s news:

Guterres says countries such as Russia are creating a “world of insecurity” for everyone following its invasion of Ukraine, which he says has “unleashed the next phase of our lives: historic human rights abuse, families torn apart, children traumatised, hopes and dreams shattered.”

The war in Ukraine has “serious implications” for the world beyond Kyiv, he says, pointing to the collapse of the Black Sea grain initiative.

The world badly needs Ukrainian food and Russian food and fertilisers to stabilise markets and guarantee food security.

Sudan is descending into full scale civil war. Millions have fled and the country risks splitting apart.

In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, millions are displaced and gender based violence is a horrific daily reality in a country that suffered centuries of colonial exploitation, is today overwhelmed by gang violence and still awaits international support.

Authoritarianism is on the march, inequalities are growing, and hate speech is on the rise.

What we need is determination and determination which is in the DNA of our United Nations, summoning gods with the first words of the charter.

We the peoples of the United Nations, determined, determined to end the scourge of war, determined to reaffirm faith in human rights, determined to uphold justice and respect international law and determined to promote social progress and better lives for all people.

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Son of Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman extradited to the US for drug trafficking

Merrick Garland, the attorney general, confirmed the extradition, calling it an effort to attack ‘every aspect’ of the cartel’s operations

Ovidio Guzman, son of incarcerated Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, has been extradited to the US, where he is wanted on fentanyl trafficking charges, Mexican and US authorities said on Friday.

Attorney general Merrick Garland said Ovidio had been extradited, calling it the latest step in US efforts to attack “every aspect” of the drug trafficking operations run by the Sinaloa cartel associated with the Guzman family.

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Mexican senate hears testimony on extraterrestrial life: ‘We are not alone’

Alleged remains of ‘non-human’ mummies presented at hearing, in country’s first official event on UFOs

Mexican senators have heard testimony that “we are not alone” in the universe and been presented with the alleged remains of “non-human” mummies, in the country’s first official event on extraterrestrial life.

At a senate hearing on Tuesday, lawmakers were shown two shriveled bodies with shrunken heads – alongside video footage of “unexplained anomalous phenomena” – by Jaime Maussan, a sports journalist turned UFO enthusiast.

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Mexican drug lord El Chapo’s wife to be released from prison, say US authorities

Emma Coronel was sentenced to three years in prison in 2021 after pleading guilty to three counts of helping the Sinaloa drug cartel

Emma Coronel, the wife of the imprisoned Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman, will be freed in Los Angeles on Wednesday following her arrest in 2021 on drug trafficking charges, according to the US Bureau of Prisons.

The US-born 34-year-old was sentenced to three years in prison in 2021 after pleading guilty to three counts of helping the Sinaloa drug cartel, including conspiracy to launder money and distribute illegal drugs and engaging in financial dealings.

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Sound of Freedom film producer plots long-shot bid for Mexican presidency

Eduardo Verástegui, who also acts in movie embraced by QAnon followers, files paperwork for 2024 election

The producer of a surprise US box office hit widely embraced by followers of the extremist Q-Anon conspiracy theory is attempting a long-shot run for president in Mexico.

Shortly before a deadline late on Thursday, Eduardo Verástegui, producer of Sound of Freedom, filed paperwork to run as an independent candidate in the June 2024 election.

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Mexican activists hail abortion ruling but warn of lack of access to care

Campaigners say many facilities and medical workers are likely to deny access since procedure is banned in many local jurisdictions

Human rights activists in Mexico have welcomed a historic ruling by the country’s supreme court that decriminalized abortion, but warned that the historic decision will not automatically make terminations accessible for all Mexican women.

Wednesday’s unanimous decision stripped away federal criminal penalties related to abortions – but not the many local laws banning the procedure, which remain on the books in 20 of Mexico’s 32 states.

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Unicef sounds alarm as record numbers of children cross dangerous Darién Gap

Children risking lives to migrate across Latin America and Caribbean, with aid groups warning they cannot cope

Record numbers of children are migrating across Latin America and the Caribbean with more than 60,000 children risking life and limb to cross the treacherous Darién Gap jungle pass this year, according to a new Unicef report.

Sounding the alarm over the rising number of youngsters on the move, the UN’s children’s agency said at least 92 migrant children had died or gone missing last year – more than any other year since 2014.

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Mexico set for first female president in 2024 election

Former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum and senator Xóchitl Gálvez were selected as the candidates for the two major electoral groups

Mexico will almost certainly have its first female president in 2024, after the governing Morena party and the opposition coalition both chose women as their candidates.

Former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum was named Morena’s candidate on Wednesday, despite runner-up Marcelo Ebrard’s last-minute denouncement of the process and demand for it to be redone.

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Mexico supreme court decriminalizes abortion across country

Decision to remove abortion from federal penal code comes amid trend in Latin America of loosening restrictions on procedure

Mexico’s supreme court has unanimously ruled that state laws prohibiting abortion are unconstitutional and violate women’s rights, in the latest in a series of victories for reproductive rights activists across Latin America.

Wednesday’s ruling came two years after the court ordered the northern state of Coahuila to remove sanctions for abortion from its criminal code, a decision which prompted a tortuous state-by-state process of legal battles. So far 12 of Mexico’s 31 states have decriminalized the procedure.

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Mexico City Marathon expels 11,000 runners for cutting sections of course

  • Trackers suggest many participants did not run full course
  • Some athletes have said technology was not working properly

More than a third of runners at this year’s Mexico City Marathon have been expelled after organisers say they cut out sections of the 26.2 mile course.

An investigation was launched after complaints that runners had used cars, public transport and bikes to cheat during the race on 27 August. Tracking data then showed that thousands of participants had not passed some of the 5km checkpoints that monitor whether runners have completed the entire race.

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Growing number of countries consider making ecocide a crime

Mexico latest country where government is considering passing new laws to criminalise environmental destruction

A growing number of countries are considering introducing laws to make ecocide a crime.

Mexico is the latest country where politicians are seeking to deter environmental damage – and to get justice for its victims – by criminalising it. Karina Marlen Barrón Perales, congresswoman for Nuevo León, has submitted a bill to the Mexican congress introducing a new crime of “ecocide”.

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Hurricane Hilary approaches California amid warnings of ‘serious threat’

‘Catastrophic’ flooding expected despite weakening to category 1 cyclone after wildfires in Maui and Washington state

Hurricane Hilary was closing in on southern California on Sunday as federal emergency officials, stretched by deadly wildfires in Maui and Washington state, warned of a “serious impact and threat”.

Despite weakening to a category 1 cyclone, the storm was still packing winds of 80mph as it approached Mexico and the south-western US, with “catastrophic” flooding expected to follow landfall.

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Hurricane Hilary downgraded amid warnings of ‘catastrophic’ flooding

Drowning reported in Baja California peninsula ahead of storm’s arrival on Saturday night before hitting southern California on Sunday

Hurricane Hilary was downgraded to a category 1 storm as it moved towards the Baja California region on Saturday evening, amid warnings of deadly flooding.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in an advisory on Saturday night that “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding” was still likely and that the storm had maximum sustained winds of 90mph (145km/h).

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As Hurricane Hilary prepares to land, California and Mexico brace for impact

Southern California gets first tropical storm warning as conditions could potentially affect Baja California peninsula late Friday

Hurricane Hilary, which quickly grew to category 4 strength off Mexico’s Pacific coast, whipping up 145mph winds, could become the first tropical storm to hit southern California in 84 years.

As the hurricane barrels northward, officials have issued the first ever tropical storm watch for the US west coast. Hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings have also been issued for parts of Baja California and mainland Mexico, where fierce winds and rain could cause flooding and landslides.

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Hurricane Hilary heads towards Mexico after strengthening from tropical storm

Storm moves toward Baja California and could bring high winds, surf and rain to southern California

A storm located about 300 miles off the coast of Mexico was upgraded to a hurricane overnight as it heads toward Baja California, potentially bringing heavy rain and winds to the region and the south-western United States this weekend.

Hurricane Hilary formed as a tropical storm about 470 miles off the coast of Manzanillo, Mexico. It is currently about 320 miles (515km) south-west of Manzanillo and is moving about 13mph west-north-west. It is expected to turn north-west on Friday morning.

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‘Huge’ coral bleaching unfolding across the Americas prompts fears of global tragedy

Scientists stunned by unprecedented heat-stress event say they can only hope it ‘motivates and unites people’

Corals across several countries are bleaching and dying en masse from unprecedented levels of heat stress, prompting fears that an unfolding tragedy in Central America, North America and the Caribbean could become a global event.

US government scientists have confirmed reefs in Panama, Colombia, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico and six countries in the Caribbean, including the Bahamas and Cuba, are suffering significant bleaching, alongside corals in Florida that began turning white almost a month ago.

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