Latin America

A UN report has concluded that recent US airstrikes on vessels allegedly trafficking drugs breached international law and could constitute crimes against humanity. The report by Special Rapporteur Ben Saul said since September last year there had been at least 68 US strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific, outside US …

Texas Congressman Greg Casar, a Democrat, has demanded a full and immediate independent investigation and the release of body camera footage. He also demanded “accountability for any ICE officer who broke the law”. The Austin Police Department confirmed to a local CBS News affiliate that the victim was injured and …

Eighteen people have been flown from Haiti to the US state of Florida to stand trial for their alleged involvement in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise five years ago. Moise was shot dead at his home in the capital, Port-au-Prince, in July 2021, allegedly by a group of …

Millions in Cuba were left without power on Friday as the country was plunged into yet another major blackout. The country’s entire electricity grid suffered “total disconnection” that triggered a nationwide outage, Cuba’s energy ministry said. Power was restored to some priority areas by late evening, including those near hospitals …

Colombia has again topped the list of countries with the highest number of killings of land and environmental activists, according to an annual report by campaign group Global Witness, external. Out of at least 124 activists killed globally in 2025, 39 were murdered in Colombia, followed by Brazil with 26. …

Prosecutors in Colombia have accused former foreign minister Laura Sarabia of abusing her power after she made her nanny take a lie detector test. The scandal erupted in 2023, when Colombian news weekly Semana reported that a woman Sarabia had employed to look after her son had been hooked up …

Thousands of olive ridley turtles came to La Escobilla beach in Oaxaca, Mexico, to lay their eggs within 48 hours, according to sanctuary officials. The natural phenomenon is known as “la arribada”, meaning “the arrival”, and sees hundreds of thousands of the reptiles swim ashore in southern Mexico. This is …

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Culiacán to demand an end to the violence that has wracked the north Mexico city. The state of Sinaloa has seen the number of murders and disappearances skyrocket since two factions of the Sinaloa cartel started a bloody war two years …

At least 16 elderly residents have died in a fire at a nursing home in Chile, according to authorities. Ten others were evacuated after a blaze broke out at El Edén home in /idt2/d9cfcc9a-2842-463f-a4d8-4dd007ef9547, around 640km (400 miles) south of the capital Santiago, on Friday evening. Jorge Granada, a prosecutor …

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has signed a decree which eases restrictions on people carrying legal firearms in public. De la Espriella, who during his campaign for the presidency promised to take an iron-fist approach to crime, said it was “not right that criminals are armed to the teeth …

Archeologists have dug up an ancient tomb that has largely been untouched for 600 years. The remains of at least 38 people were found in the burial site in Peru’s north, near Chan Chan. It also contained various other relics – including metal weapons – belonging to the pre-Incan Chimu …

Security footage captured the moment a child was saved from moving traffic in Puebla, Mexico. The footage shows an employee at Super Rey del Ahorro supermarket operating a pallet jack when he spots the child running toward a busy road chased by two adults. One of the adults stumbles while …

Young people across Latin America are taking part in the contests where participants compete to prove who has the most charisma. BBC News

A former president of Ecuador has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of taking bribes. Lenín Moreno insisted he had not taken money from a Chinese firm which secured a contract to build a hydroelectric plant in the Latin American nation. The 73-year-old will serve …

Colombia’s new right-wing president, Abelardo de la Espriella, has approved the extradition of five rebel armed group members who are wanted in the US on drug-related charges. The move is a step towards ending a plan by his left-wing predecessor Gustavo Petro who tried to end the violence that has …

The football with which Diego Maradona scored his famous ‘hand of God’ goal at the 1986 World Cup has sold at auction for £2.5m. Maradona famously punched the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton in Argentina’s 2-1 quarter-final win over England. After the game, he told reporters it had been scored …

Panama Canal’s operator is to cut the number of vessels passing through the key waterway due to low rainfall caused by El Niño. The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) told shipping firms on Thursday that 32 vessels a day will be able to pass through it from 15 September, compared to …

The Mexican Navy rescued two fishermen 150 miles off the coast of Chiapas, Mexico on 19 August, after they had been missing for 5 days. Naval authorities began the search for the men, aged 53 and 32, after their fishing cooperative lost contact with them on 15 August and sent …

At least 21 people have been killed and another four injured in a head-on collision between a minibus and a lorry in southern Brazil, local officials say. The crash happened at around 04:30 local time (07:30 GMT) on the BR-373 highway in the southern state of Paraná. Local media reported …

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has hailed the discovery of oil near the mouth of the Amazon river. Speaking after the find was announced by Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras, he said it could be “a passport to the country’s future”. His decision to allow exploratory drilling in …