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Dozens of firearms also seized after 6,600 gold bars worth C$21m and C$2.7m in cash stolen at Pearson international airportPolice investigating a brazen multimillion-dollar gold heist at Toronto’s main airport have arrested six men and seized dozens of firearms linked to the case which officers said “belongs in a Netflix series”.Six thousand six hundred gold bars, worth C$21m, and C$2.7m in cash were stolen...

Notorious for drawing large crowds, Emerson was removed by officials who were surprised to find him back in Victoria in a weekLast week, gun-wielding conservation officers stuffed a 500lb elephant seal in the back of a van, drove him along a winding highway in western Canada and left him on a remote beach “far from human habitation”.The plan was to move the young seal...

El Niño weather phenomenon depletes reservoirs and limits output at hydroelectric plantsEcuador has begun to ration electricity in the country’s main cities as a drought linked to the El Niño weather pattern depletes reservoirs and limits output at hydroelectric plants that produce about 75% of the nation’s power.“We urge Ecuadorians to cut their electricity consumption in this critical week,” the ministry of energy said...

Correspondents in Port-au-Prince face danger as they play a vital role in chronicling city’s state of siegeEach day, Makenson Rémy wakes in the hush of the night to tell the story of his shattered home town, Port-au-Prince. Each day, he fears he might die. “I am very worried for the city. I am worried for my family. I am worried for myself too, because...

Patrice Runner, 57, of Canada was convicted in June of multiple counts of defrauding ‘millions of older and vulnerable Americans’A Canadian conman, who swindled more than US$175m (C$241m) from his North American victims through “a massive psychic mass-mailing fraud scheme” has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.Patrice Runner, 57, who holds citizenship with both Canada and France, was convicted by a jury in...

Nearly half a million hectares of Crown land on Haida Gwaii will be returned to Indigenous people in first-of-its-kind agreementFor centuries, the Haida people have known that the impenetrable forests and bountiful waters of Xhaaidlagha Gwaayaai – “the islands at the boundary of the world” – were both a life-giving force and their rightful home.Now, after decades of negotiation, the province of British Columbia...

Manuel Rocha, 73, will also pay a $500,000 fine after pleading guilty to conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign governmentA former career US diplomat was sentenced Friday to 15 years in federal prison after admitting he worked for decades as a secret agent for Cuba, in a plea agreement that leaves many unanswered questions about a betrayal that stunned the US...

Prime minister testified at inquiry into foreign interference that agency’s report of China meddling wasn’t relayed to himCanada’s spy agency is under pressure after Justin Trudeau and his closest advisers say they were never made aware of a report that Beijing “clandestinely and deceptively” interfered in both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.Canada is in the midst of a contentious public inquiry “examining and...

The attack, blamed on a suicide bomber, killed 85 people, wounded 300 and devastated Latin America’s biggest Jewish communityA new ruling by Argentina’s highest criminal court has blamed Iran for the fatal 1994 attack against a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, declaring it a “crime against humanity” in a decision that paves the way for victims to seek justice.That huge blast at the...

Bogotá brings in water rationing with El Niño weather phenomenon meaning city could run out in under two monthsCouples in Bogotá are being asked to shower together as water supplies are rationed in the Colombian capital.Major neighbourhoods were cut off from the water grid on Thursday to preserve dangerously low water levels at reservoirs that have been starved of rain by the weather phenomenon...

Delivering a baby was already risky, but an unprecedented surge in gang violence has forced clinics and hospitals to closeThe worst fears of midwives at Heartline Haiti were realised last week. As they prepared the maternity clinic for patients that evening, armed men laid siege to their neighbourhood in eastern Port-au-Prince, spraying bullets at police and rival gangs, setting cars on fire and ransacking...

Ecuadorian police forced their way inside embassy in Quito to arrest former vice-president who was seeking asylum in MexicoMexico is demanding that the United Nations expel Ecuador from the world body as part of a complaint to the top UN court over a police raid last week on the Mexican embassy in Quito.Tensions between Mexico and Ecuador have soared since late last week when...

Worst-ever fire season in 2023 saw 15m hectare burned, eight firefighters killed and 230,000 people evacuatedCanada risks another “catastrophic” wildfire season, the federal government has warned, forecasting higher-than-normal spring and summer temperatures across much of the country, boosted by El Niño weather conditions.Last year, Canada endured its worst-ever fire season, with more than 6,600 blazes burning 15m hectares (37m acres), an area roughly seven...

Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon speaking loudly and often after party win over Coalition Avenir QuébecQuebec separation is back among the living.Years after many considered it dead, the prospect of removing Canada’s second-most populous province from the federation has re-entered the political debate. And though Quebecers aren’t exactly marching in the streets in its support as they once did, they are certainly taking...

Tareck El Aissami latest in purge of politicians, human rights advocates and critics by government of Nicolás MaduroVenezuela’s former oil minister Tareck El Aissami – once one of President Nicolás Maduro’s closest allies – has been arrested for allegedly participating in an international scheme that syphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars from the country’s state oil company.The charges against El Aissami are part...

Andrés Manuel López Obrador condemns assault by Ecuadorian officers, who dragged out ex-vice-president sheltering in missionThe Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has condemned what he described as a “despicable authoritarian” assault on his country’s embassy in Quito and released dramatic images showing Ecuadorian security forces dragging the country’s former vice-president from the building.Jorge Glas, Ecuador’s vice-president from 2013 until 2018, sought shelter at...

Law firm’s founders among those to face money laundering charges after leak of 11.5m files in 2016A criminal trial of 27 employees working for the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers on money laundering charges has commenced in a Panamanian court.Eight years ago, leaked financial records from the law firm Mossack Fonseca sparked international outrage at the use of offshore companies...

Advocates fear situation could escalate in Javari valley, a region plagued by violence and poor healthcareMore than 100 Indigenous people in Brazil’s Javari valley have been diagnosed with flu-like symptoms, raising fears that the situation could escalate into an epidemic.The valley, where Indigenous advocate Bruno Pereira and journalist Dom Phillips were killed in 2022, is home to the largest population of Indigenous people in...

Jorge Glas brought to naval hospital from maximum security prison three days after his controversial capture in Mexican embassyEcuador’s former vice-president Jorge Glas has reportedly been taken to hospital from the maximum security jail where he was being held – three days after the politician was captured inside Mexico’s embassy in Quito during a police raid that drew outrage across Latin America.Glas, 54, was...

Rare celestial event on Monday will see the moon block out the sun for a few minutes and day turn to night, with fans hoping the clouds don’t spoil the viewAcross the US, Mexico and Canada, people have rushed to stake out spots to witness a rare total solar eclipse, while forecasts for cloudy skies worry some hopeful spectators.The phenomenon happens when the moon...

António Guterres voices ‘alarm’ as Latin American governments sharply criticise Quito’s move to arrest former vice-presidentThe UN secretary general, António Guterres, has added his voice to a torrent of criticism of Ecuador’s decision to storm the Mexican embassy in Quito in order to arrest the former vice-president Jorge Glas.“The secretary general is alarmed at the forced entry of Ecuadorian security forces into the premises...

CSIS intelligence report suggests growing number of countries targeting country’s large diaspora populationsCanada’s spy agency has declared that the governments of India and Pakistan probably attempted to meddle in its elections.As a closely watched public inquiry investigates the scope of foreign interference, on Thursday night the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) released a report suggesting a growing number of countries see Canada – and...

Human rights expert voices alarm, saying country is fast moving towards becoming ‘like Somalia in the worst of its times’Haiti: what caused the gang violence?The UN’s top expert on human rights in Haiti has warned the Caribbean country is rapidly moving towards becoming “like Somalia in the worst of its times” after a criminal uprising which has displaced tens of thousands of people and...

Justin Trudeau says allegations ‘extremely troubling’ after officers arrested First Nations men and confiscated their boots and phonesTwo First Nations fishermen have said they were forced to walk shoeless for hours in the dark and cold after Canadian federal officers seized their boots and phones.The prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said the allegations were “extremely troubling” amid mounting anger over the treatment of the Mi’kmaw...