Gun battles between rival gangs in Port-au-Prince have killed dozens in the past two weeks and forced thousands to flee their homes, Haiti’s civil protection authority and a U.N. agency said. The Chen Mechan and 400 Mawozo gangs, the latter of which kidnapped a group of U.S. and Canadian missionaries …
Read More »Colombia’s most-wanted drug trafficker extradited to US
One of Colombia’s most notorious drug lords has been extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.
Read More »Ecuador declares emergency in three provinces over drug violence
Thousands of police and troops will be deployed under the state of emergency, the second to be imposed by the president in a bid to curb drug-linked violence. Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso has imposed a state of emergency in three provinces blaming drug-related violence. “I have declared a state of …
Read More »El Salvador president requests state of emergency extension
El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele asked lawmakers to extend the country’s state of emergency for a month on Sunday, as police said that more than 16,000 gang members had been arrested since it was imposed. “I am calling the Council of Ministers to ask the Legislative Assembly to extend the …
Read More »Magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Nicaragua coast
No tsunami threat was reported after the quake, and authorities said there was a low likelihood. A powerful earthquake struck off the western coast of Nicaragua, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). No tsunami threat was immediately reported following the earthquake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 6.7. …
Read More »Mexican truckers block US border
Mexican truckers have temporarily blocked the US point-of-entry in protest of new border inspection regulation slapped on commercial vehicles by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Mexican truck drivers blocked the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge on Monday for the fifth day in a row and a similar protest affected traffic into and out …
Read More »Mexicans vote on whether president stays or goes
Mexicans vote Sunday on whether their popular president should end his six-year term barely midway through or continue to the end. Strangely, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was the one who pushed for the first-ever referendum of its kind in Mexico. It was considered a safe bet. The referendum is …
Read More »DHL cargo plane breaks in two during emergency landing in Costa Rica (Video)
A cargo plane carrying mail and packages skidded off the runway and broke in two during an emergency landing in Costa Rica on Thursday, causing the temporary closure of the international airport in San Jose. Smoke was billowing from the bright yellow plane of German logistics giant DHL as it …
Read More »Clashes intensify in Corsica after prison attack on nationalist figure
Violent clashes have broken out between protesters and police on France’s Mediterranean island of Corsica, as tensions mount over an assault in prison against a nationalist figure. According to Press TV, Yvan Colonna, incarcerated at Arles Prison, was attacked on March 2 while he was working out alone. He is …
Read More »A demonstration for Maduro supporters and another for the opposition in the Venezuelan capital
Thousands demonstrated in support of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on Saturday to mark International Youth Day, an important annual event in Venezuela, while the opposition mobilized a demonstration of about 500 people. Maduro’s supporters demonstrated their strength in the capital’s streets with drumming, salsa dancing and waving Venezuelan flags, …
Read More »US will act ‘decisively’ if Russia deploys military to Cuba or Venezuela – White House
The American authorities would act “decisively” if Russia deployed its military to Latin America, the White House said on Thursday, following suggestions that Moscow could station some of its troops in Venezuela or Cuba. United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called the idea “bluster in the public commentary” and …
Read More »Chile: Voters head to polls in divisive presidential runoff
Voters in Chile will choose between two candidates with polar opposite views. Recent opinion polls show left-wing candidate Gabriel Boric leading right-wing populist Jose Antonio Kast. Chileans are casting their ballots Sunday in a hotly contested runoff between two candidates offering starkly divergent visions of the country’s future on a …
Read More »Colombia’s riot police need ‘profound transformation,’ U.N. rights agency says
Colombia’s riot police should undergo a “profound transformation” to prevent the disproportionate use of force against peaceful protesters, the United Nations urged in a report Wednesday. The U.N. human rights agency blamed the country’s public force for 28 deaths during months of nationwide protests this year. They included 10 deaths …
Read More »Two police, attacker killed in bombings at airport in Colombia
Two police officers and a suspected attacker have been killed in bomb blasts at an airport in northeastern Colombia near the border with Venezuela. The suspected attacker managed to cross a wire fence to access the runaway at the Camilo Daza International Airport in the border city of Cucuta, Colombian …
Read More »Haiti’s Moise was probing officials linked to drug trade when he was killed: NYT
Haitian President Jovenel Moise was compiling a list of officials and businessmen linked to the drug trade before he was assassinated in July, the New York Times reported on Sunday, adding he planned to give the names to the U.S. government. Moise was murdered in a late-night raid on his …
Read More »Iconic Mexican ranchera singer Vicente Fernandez dies at 81
Legendary Mexican singer Vicente Fernandez, an emblematic figure of ranchera music, died on Sunday at the age of 81, according to a message posted on his official Instagram account. Fernandez died at 6:15 a.m. local time, the post said. He had been suffering medical complications after a fall at his …
Read More »Mexico: At least 54 dead and dozens injured after lorry carrying over 100 migrants overturns
At least 54 people are dead and dozens more injured after a lorry carrying people thought to be migrants destined for the US crashed in southern Mexico. Video footage of the incident – one of the worst accidents to involve migrants risking their lives to reach America – showed the …
Read More »Brazil’s health ministry website hit by hacker attack, systems down
Brazil’s health ministry said its website was hit on Friday by a hacker attack that took several systems down, including one with information about the national immunization program and a second one used to issue digital vaccination certificates. “The health ministry reports that in the early hours of Friday it …
Read More »US U-turns on rebels’ terrorist status after 20 years
The US has formally removed the Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) from its list of foreign terrorist organizations, just after the fifth anniversary of the peace deal between the rebel group and the Colombian government. In a statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that “The Department of State …
Read More »Chile factory fire spews smoke cloud over capital Santiago
A huge fire at a factory in Santiago spewed out a dense gray plume of smoke over the Chilean capital city on Monday, forcing some planes to be diverted and neighborhood schools and nurseries to be suspended. The fire broke out at the factory of construction materials in the municipality …
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