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It is the second time in less than two years the Caribbean archipelago is seeing escalating violence, attributed to warring drug gangsThe United Kingdom is sending specialist assistance to the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) following a surge in shooting deaths in the Caribbean archipelago.Four men were found dead from gunshot wounds on the island of Providenciales on 1 and 2 February, and two...

Experts say the endangered insect numbers fell by 59% this year, blaming pesticide use and climate change for the reductionThe number of endangered monarch butterflies at their wintering areas in Mexico has dropped by 59% this year to the second lowest level since record keeping began, experts said, blaming pesticide use and climate change.The annual butterfly count doesn’t calculate the individual number of butterflies,...

Immigration minister Marc Miller frustrated by impasse over list of about 1,000 people trapped in Palestinian territoryCanada’s immigration minister, Marc Miller, has said he is “pissed off” that extended family members of Canadians are being blocked from leaving war-torn Gaza.Ottawa last month provided a list of about 1,000 people approved to come to Canada to Israeli and Egyptian authorities, who jointly control the only...

Emergency measures taken as 364,855 cases of mosquito-borne infection reported this year, a fourfold increase on year beforeDengue fever has surged in Brazil’s hot rainy season, forcing health authorities to take emergency measures and start mass vaccination against the mosquito-borne illness.In the first five weeks of this year, 364,855 cases of infection have been reported, the health ministry said, four times more than dengue...

Cameron Ortis was convicted of passing secret material in a case that shocked the Canadian intelligence communityThe former head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police intelligence unit has been sentenced to 14 years in prison, months after he was found guilty of leaking state secrets.Justice Robert Maranger delivered what he said was a “a fit and just” sentence on Wednesday after a jury convicted...

Minister says Piñera’s body recovered from scene of crash in lake near southern town of Lago RancoChile’s two-time former president Sebastián Piñera has died in a helicopter crash at the age of 74.According to preliminary reports, Piñera was piloting a helicopter with three passengers onboard over Lago Ranco, a lake in southern Chile where he had a home, but no further information regarding the...

Fires in Valparaíso said to be country’s deadliest disaster since 2010 earthquakeThe death toll from wildfires that ravaged central Chile for several days has risen to 131, and more than 300 people remain missing as the blazes appear to be burning themselves out.The fires in the Valparaíso region are said to be Chile’s deadliest disaster since an earthquake in 2010. Officials have suggested that...

Death count for Chile’s worst natural disaster in years expected to climb as official two-day mourning period beginsHelicopters dumped tonnes of water on wildfires raging across central Chile, as emergency crews said they were still finding bodies three days after the blazes took hold.The official death count from Chile’s worst natural disaster in years increased to 123 on Monday according to Marisol Prado, the...

Voters reward Bukele for gang crackdown that has transformed security in central American countryEl Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, has won a thumping victory in elections after voters cast aside concerns about erosion of democracy to reward him for a fierce gang crackdown that transformed security in the central American country.Provisional results on Monday morning showed Bukele winning 83% support with just over 70% of...

People told to evacuate homes as quickly as possible and curfews declared in cities most heavily affectedFirefighters are wrestling with huge forest fires that broke out in central Chile on Friday. Officials have extended curfews in cities most heavily affected by the blazes and said the death toll has increased to 112 killed.The fires have been burning with the highest intensity around the city...

At least 46 people reported dead as dozens of fires sweep across central and southern regions, with Valparaíso worst affectedAt least 46 people have died from forest fires raging in central Chile, President Gabriel Boric has said, warning that the death toll is likely to rise.Earlier on Saturday, Chile’s interior minister, Carolina Tohá, said there were currently 92 forest fires in the centre and...

Influential musician also co-produced group’s albums and mentored many Jamaican artistsAston “Family Man” Barrett, bassist for Bob Marley and the Wailers, has died aged 77.The news was confirmed on Saturday by Olivia Grange, Jamaica’s minister for culture, who wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “I share with you my deep regret at the passing of Aston Francis Barrett, popularly known as ‘Family Man’ or ‘Fams’...

Far-right president’s measures aimed at tackling the country’s severe economic problems passed easily despite public protestsArgentina’s lower chamber of deputies has given overall approval to libertarian president Javier Milei’s sweeping “omnibus” reform bill in a vote on Friday after days of debate, paving the way for a decisive vote in the Senate.The controversial reform package was approved on a vote of 144 votes in...

Mammal ‘made contact with equipment’, disrupting a subway line and shutting off water in latest escapade of city’s ‘trash pandas’A lone Toronto raccoon was able to cut power to nearly 7,000 people in the city’s downtown core on Thursday night, highlighting the fraught coexistence between residents of Canada’s largest urban centre and the divisive “trash pandas”.Hydro One, Ontario’s power utility, said a raccoon “made...

Brandi Morin was charged while reporting at encampment authorities arrived at to dismantle and could face two years in jailA journalist in Canada who was arrested and charged while reporting on a police operation to clear an encampment for unhoused Indigenous people says she fears the charges will chill further reporting of marginalized groups.Brandi Morin, an Indigenous journalist, was arrested on 10 January while...

Kenneth Law now faces 14 counts in Ontario of first-degree murder and 14 counts of counselling and aiding suicideProsecutors in Canada have upgraded murder charges against the man who allegedly mailed “suicide kits” and is allegedly linked to more than 100 deaths in several countries.Kenneth Law, who is due to appear in court on Thursday, now faces 14 counts in Ontario of first-degree murder...

Access to Incan site in Peruvian Andes restored after dispute over new electronic rail ticketing systemPeruvian authorities have reopened the train route to Machu Picchu, after an agreement was struck to end more than a week of protests that had blocked access to the famed Incan site and stranded tourists.PeruRail said in a statement a partial service had restarted on Wednesday and that a...

Thieves haul off taxidermy animal from resort hotel in northern Alberta that had previously lost two stuffed raccoonsAs temperatures in western Canada recently plunged to -30C (-22F), most residents retreated indoors to wait out the blistering cold snap. But one group of thieves saw opportunity.On one of the coldest nights of the winter, they gained access to a hotel north of Edmonton, where security...

Train services suspended due to safety concerns as people demonstrate against Peru’s consolidation of ticket salesProtesters in Peru are blocking access to Machu Picchu, leaving some tourists stranded amid local anger over a new ticketing system halting rail transport to one of South America’s most popular heritage sites.Train services to the ancient ruins high up in the Andes have been suspended since Saturday due...

Residents of tiny coastal community of Cape Ray excited by discovery of what appears to be 19th-century vesselA coastal community in Newfoundland has been left baffled and excited by the sudden and unexplained appearance of a centuries-old shipwreck on the sands of a nearby shore.Gordon Blackmore, a local resident, was hunting seabirds on the sandy shores of Cape Ray when he spotted a dark...

Ex-president’s family retreat targeted early on Monday as nine search warrants executed in other parts of the countryBrazilian police have raided the holiday home of former president Jair Bolsonaro as part of an expanding investigation into an illegal spying racket that allegedly existed during his far-right government.Federal police officers reportedly arrived at Bolsonaro’s family retreat in Mambucaba, a picturesque seaside village 126 miles west...

Four-year-old dog named Efruz ‘loves the sea’, according to his owner, and often perches on a surfboard to ride wavesClad in a yellow vest, little Efruz balances himself on the front of the surfboard as waves foam around him and his companion as they skim over the Pacific waters off Peru.Efruz is a four-year-old Jack Russell terrier and he is a common sight these...

Judge says UN-backed proposals to tackle gangs in Caribbean country contravene Kenya’s constitutionKenya’s high court has ruled against a government plan to deploy hundreds of police to Haiti to lead a UN-backed multinational mission to fight escalating gang violence in the Caribbean country.Enock Chacha Mwita, the judge who issued the ruling, said: “Any decision by any state organ or state officer to deploy police...

Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as Canada says UK was unwilling to give access to agricultural productsFull story: UK suspends trade talks with CanadaEuropean inflation could fall faster than previously expected according to a survey of EU economists – the flip side of lower output in the bloc’s largest economy.A survey by the European Central Bank said that headline inflation...