https://www.scmp.com/rss/322265/feed The latest news, politics and current affairs from the Americas. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The World Health Organization opened a meeting of global health ministers on Monday amid concern over deadly hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks and uncertainty over announced US and Argentinian withdrawals. While the rare hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship that has gripped global attention is not officially on the agenda, it is expected to feature prominently in discussions, alongside the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The two outbreaks “are just the latest crises in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3354010/who-kicks-annual-assembly-amid-ebola-hantavirus-us-withdrawal-funding-cuts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3354010/who-kicks-annual-assembly-amid-ebola-hantavirus-us-withdrawal-funding-cuts?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 May 2026 14:07:50 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A Spanish court acquitted Shakira in a tax fraud case, ordering the government to return more than 55 million euros (US$64 million) in wrongly imposed fines, according to a court document. The decision follows years of tax troubles in Spain for the Colombian superstar. The ruling relates to a dispute over the 2011 tax year in which Spanish authorities failed to prove that the singer was a resident of Spain, the Madrid-based court said in its decision. For a person to be considered a tax resident... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3354004/shakira-acquitted-spanish-court-tax-fraud-over-us64-million-be-returned?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3354004/shakira-acquitted-spanish-court-tax-fraud-over-us64-million-be-returned?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 May 2026 12:53:36 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The former Secretary of Public Security for Mexico’s Sinaloa state appeared in a US court on Friday, days after his arrest in Arizona on charges he and other officials took bribes to help the Sinaloa Cartel smuggle vast quantities of drugs into the US. Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, 66, was not required to enter a plea during his initial appearance in federal court in Manhattan. He was ordered jailed but could request bail at a later date. He is due back in court on June 1. A message seeking comment... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3353820/ten-mexican-government-justice-officials-indicted-us-will-surrender?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3353820/ten-mexican-government-justice-officials-indicted-us-will-surrender?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 May 2026 11:18:32 +0000 Reuters Reuters Peru’s leftist ⁠presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez will face ⁠Keiko Fujimori in the June run-off after narrowly securing second place in April’s first-round vote, official results showed Friday, with 100 per cent of votes tallied. The month-long count led to allegations of fraud in ‌the politically turbulent South American nation, notably from right-wing candidate Rafael Lopez Aliaga, who narrowly trailed Sanchez for much of the counting process. Fujimori, the daughter of late former... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3353775/perus-leftist-sanchez-face-fujimori-presidential-run?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3353775/perus-leftist-sanchez-face-fujimori-presidential-run?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 May 2026 17:15:27 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Thirty-four European states plus Australia, Costa Rica and the EU said on Friday they would join a future special tribunal for Ukraine to prosecute Russia over its invasion of the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an accord with the Council of Europe last year to create a legal body to prosecute the “crime of aggression” in the invasion Russia launched in February 2022. The Council of Ministers, comprising foreign ministers from the organisation’s 46-member states, in a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3353763/ukraine-war-36-nations-approve-tribunal-creation-prosecute-russia-over-invasion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3353763/ukraine-war-36-nations-approve-tribunal-creation-prosecute-russia-over-invasion?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 May 2026 13:44:54 +0000 David Dodwell David Dodwell Most readers of foreign news pages this weekend will be assuming that US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing has been dominating everyone’s attention. But across Asia, Trump, with his massive business entourage, was not the only act in town this week. At least two other major sets of meetings should not be overlooked. First, in New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hosting foreign ministers from the 10 Brics economies and a growing community... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3353606/xi-trump-summit-aside-2-meetings-asia-matter-global-trade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3353606/xi-trump-summit-aside-2-meetings-asia-matter-global-trade?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 May 2026 08:30:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The head of the CIA visited Cuba on Thursday, an extraordinary step-up in contact between Washington and Havana as the communist-run island reels from US pressure, declaring that it was out of oil. John Ratcliffe’s ‌trip appeared to be only the second visit by a CIA director to Cuba since former leader Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution. Ratcliffe met with Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, grandson of former president Raul Castro, Interior Minister Lazaro Alvarez Casas and the head of Cuban... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3353617/cuba-calls-us-lift-blockade-rather-offer-aid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3353617/cuba-calls-us-lift-blockade-rather-offer-aid?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 May 2026 22:00:06 +0000 Lijia Zhang Lijia Zhang In recent years, the Brics grouping has attracted attention as it adds members and positions itself as the voice of the Global South. At a Brics forum held in Beijing last month, officials discussed expanding trade within the grouping. Such initiatives reflect both an impulse to reduce exposure to external shocks linked to the US dollar and a long-term ambition to reshape global finance. These gatherings are as much about signalling intent as delivering substance. Brics wants to be seen as a... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3353220/what-brics-lacks-unity-it-makes-flexibility?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3353220/what-brics-lacks-unity-it-makes-flexibility?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 May 2026 21:30:05 +0000 Teresa Elena Frontado Teresa Elena Frontado The Trump administration on Wednesday publicly renewed an offer of US$100 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba, stepping up pressure on Havana despite Beijing’s continued political and economic backing for the island. The announcement came as US President Donald Trump travelled to China this week for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with Trump saying before departure that Cuba would be among the issues discussed during the visit. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the State Department... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3353481/us-renews-us100-million-cuba-aid-offer-trump-raises-island-xi?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3353481/us-renews-us100-million-cuba-aid-offer-trump-raises-island-xi?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 May 2026 20:20:17 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Argentina’s city “at the end of the world” Ushuaia, the jump-off point for expeditions to the Antarctic, has been labouring under suspicion of being the source of the deadly hantavirus outbreak that killed three cruise ship passengers. The MV Hondius set sail from this spectacular Patagonian port, sandwiched between snow-capped mountains and the South Atlantic, on April 1. Five days later, a Dutch man who had travelled through South America on a birdwatching trip with his wife, developed... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3353371/argentine-city-tries-shrug-hantavirus-ship-patient-zero-suspicions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3353371/argentine-city-tries-shrug-hantavirus-ship-patient-zero-suspicions?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 May 2026 04:48:40 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick Beijing lashed out at Paraguay on Monday after President Santiago Pena wrapped up a four-day visit to Taiwan, branding Paraguayan leaders as willing “chess pieces” for independence forces on the self-ruled island that China claims as its own territory. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said China “firmly opposes and condemns” the trip and urged Asuncion to “change course at an early date” and recognise the one-China principle. “The wheels of history wait for no one. Rejecting the one-China... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3353335/beijing-calls-paraguay-leaders-willing-chess-pieces-after-disputed-taiwan-trip?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3353335/beijing-calls-paraguay-leaders-willing-chess-pieces-after-disputed-taiwan-trip?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 May 2026 20:06:25 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Cuba was asking for help and “we are going to talk”, without providing any more detail. “No Republican ‌has ever spoken to me about Cuba, which is a failed country and only heading in one direction – down! Cuba is asking for help, and we are going to talk!!! In the ⁠meantime, I’m off to China!” Trump wrote on social media. Representatives for the White House and the State Department could not be immediately reached ‌for comment. Representatives for... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3353311/trump-says-cuba-seeking-help-will-hold-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3353311/trump-says-cuba-seeking-help-will-hold-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 May 2026 13:31:48 +0000 Brian Y. S. Wong Brian Y. S. Wong With the war in the Middle East entering its third month, questions have surfaced over its geopolitical ramifications in the region and beyond. An entity that has drawn particular scrutiny is Brics. The 10-member grouping is defined less by a clear set of common values and more by contingently overlapping interests. It does not and cannot speak with one voice on the conflict. Two Brics members, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), are at loggerheads: Tehran has launched missile and drone... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3352951/brics-doesnt-need-unified-voice-iran-war-have-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3352951/brics-doesnt-need-unified-voice-iran-war-have-future?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 May 2026 21:30:06 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A Bolivian court on Monday reissued a warrant for the arrest of former president Evo Morales on charges of trafficking a minor after he failed to show up for the start of his trial. Bolivia’s first Indigenous president has been accused of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while in office. The parents of the teen were accused of consenting to the relationship in exchange for favours from Morales. The former socialist leader, who governed from 2006 to 2019, has rejected the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3353192/bolivias-evo-morales-held-contempt-after-missing-court-trafficking-trial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3353192/bolivias-evo-morales-held-contempt-after-missing-court-trafficking-trial?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 May 2026 18:20:21 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Federal agents are investigating the deaths of six people thought to be immigrants found inside a shipping container at a Union Pacific rail yard near the border with Mexico in Laredo, Texas, on Sunday as a “potential human smuggling event”. A Union Pacific employee found the bodies of six people inside a shipping container Sunday afternoon, said Jose Baeza, the Laredo Police Department public information officer. Dr Corinne Stern, the Webb County medical examiner, is conducting autopsies and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3353191/6-found-dead-cargo-train-carriage-rail-depot-texas-border-town-police-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3353191/6-found-dead-cargo-train-carriage-rail-depot-texas-border-town-police-say?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 May 2026 16:57:02 +0000 Juan Fernando Herrera Ramos Juan Fernando Herrera Ramos Beijing’s position in Latin America is far from collapsing, looking at the number of countries in the region that have switched diplomatic ties to it from Taipei. But in parts of the continent, governments are increasingly reassessing what their relationships with Beijing are delivering economically and politically. The shift is becoming visible in countries such as Honduras, Venezuela and Cuba, where economic strain, energy instability and geopolitical pressure are exposing the limits of... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3352923/latin-america-reassessing-benefits-warm-ties-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3352923/latin-america-reassessing-benefits-warm-ties-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 May 2026 12:30:06 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Tired of petrol shortages and skyrocketing prices, Simón Huanca took matters into his own hands. The 53-year-old Indigenous artisan imported a Chinese electric car to navigate El Alto, Bolivia’s highest city, using the vehicle to transport both his family and the alpaca wool for his weaving workshop. He also installed a dedicated charger in his own garage, mainly for convenience, but also because there are only three public charging stations serving the vast metropolitan area of El Alto and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3353036/evs-surge-bolivia-amid-fuel-shortages-junk-gas-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3353036/evs-surge-bolivia-amid-fuel-shortages-junk-gas-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 May 2026 08:52:10 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Mexican authorities have announced that the school year will end over a month early as the country gears up to host World Cup matches, prompting broad backlash. Education Secretary Mario Delgado said the decision to end the school year 40 days early was made in part due to a heatwave affecting several states. “We’re going to end the school year on June 5 because many states are already experiencing high temperatures, and there’s also the issue of the World Cup,” he said at an event on Friday in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3352967/mexico-end-school-year-40-days-early-world-cup-amid-heat-wave?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3352967/mexico-end-school-year-40-days-early-world-cup-amid-heat-wave?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 May 2026 00:54:49 +0000 Andrew Sheng Andrew Sheng The old order is dead. We just don’t know what will replace it. As Henry Kissinger reminded us in his 2014 book World Order, “no truly global order has ever existed”. After US President Donald Trump’s erratic actions, the gloves are off. American comedians and Iranian Lego cartoons tell us all we need to know about the demise of the old order. If the unipolar order is not viable, and America is abandoning the multilateral order and the rules of the game it created after World War II, what are... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3352758/thanks-trump-gloves-are-there-may-be-no-new-global-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3352758/thanks-trump-gloves-are-there-may-be-no-new-global-order?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 May 2026 21:30:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse There is an “almost zero” chance that the Dutch man linked to the hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship contracted the disease in the Argentine port of Ushuaia, a provincial health official said on Friday. Juan Petrina, director of epidemiology for Tierra del Fuego province, where Ushuaia is located, told reporters that his assessment was based on the virus’s incubation period, among other factors. The Dutch man and his wife, both of whom died of the virus, boarded the Hondius in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3352964/almost-zero-chance-dutch-man-got-hantavirus-argentinas-ushuaia-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3352964/almost-zero-chance-dutch-man-got-hantavirus-argentinas-ushuaia-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 May 2026 21:05:29 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told US President Donald Trump on Thursday that his country’s rare earth reserves are open to investment from China and any other nation willing to process the minerals on Brazilian soil, resisting pressure to side with Washington in its contest with Beijing over critical mineral supply chains. “We have no preference. What we want is to share with whoever wants to invest in Brazil,” Lula said at a press conference at the Brazilian embassy in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352824/lula-wont-sideline-china-or-anyone-rare-earths-tells-trump-refining-stays-brazil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352824/lula-wont-sideline-china-or-anyone-rare-earths-tells-trump-refining-stays-brazil?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 May 2026 23:01:58 +0000 Teresa Elena Frontado Teresa Elena Frontado The Trump administration has expanded its pressure campaign against Cuba into the critical minerals sector, sanctioning a nickel joint venture tied to Canadian miner Sherritt International in a move that could reverberate through China-linked battery supply chains. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions on Thursday against Moa Nickel SA, a joint venture between Sherritt and Cuba’s state-owned General Nickel Company, as part of a broader effort targeting Havana’s military-controlled... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352815/us-targets-cuba-nickel-operation-move-implications-china-linked-supply-chains?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352815/us-targets-cuba-nickel-operation-move-implications-china-linked-supply-chains?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 May 2026 18:15:08 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick China made Brazil its top global investment destination last year, pouring US$6.1 billion into the country across a record 52 projects. The figures come from the China-Brazil Business Council (CBBC), which released its annual report on Thursday. The 45 per cent jump in value from the previous year far outpaced the 4.8 per cent rise in total foreign investment into Brazil. It also dwarfed China’s worldwide outbound flows, which grew just 1.3 per cent. Brazil absorbed 10.9 per cent of all Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352676/china-pours-us61b-brazil-making-it-beijings-top-investment-worldwide-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352676/china-pours-us61b-brazil-making-it-beijings-top-investment-worldwide-report?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 May 2026 14:30:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A teenage boy shot dead two staff members and injured two other people, including a student, at a school in northeast Brazil on Tuesday, prompting panicked students to try to escape over a wall, authorities and a witness said. A 13-year-old boy was arrested over the attack at Sao Jose Institute in Rio Branco, the capital of Acre state, the local government said in a statement. Eduardo Rodrigues Cavalcante, who works as a receptionist at a hotel next to the school, said that when the shooting... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3352546/boy-13-shoots-2-dead-brazil-school?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3352546/boy-13-shoots-2-dead-brazil-school?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 May 2026 23:50:26 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick Panama’s foreign minister has called on a group of opposition lawmakers visiting China to deliver a firm message defending the country’s sovereignty, as tensions over a wave of detentions of Panamanian-flagged vessels show no signs of easing. Javier Martinez-Acha Vasquez said on Monday that the lawmakers should relay a clear message to their Chinese counterparts on Panama’s behalf. “I can only suggest that you convey that Panama respects China, but Panama first respects the Constitution of our... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3352539/panama-minister-blasts-chinas-ship-crackdown-tells-deputies-demand-answers-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3352539/panama-minister-blasts-chinas-ship-crackdown-tells-deputies-demand-answers-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 May 2026 18:01:22 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A Colombian girl celebrating her 10th birthday was among three people crushed to death at a monster truck display when a vehicle veered out of control and ploughed into spectators, authorities said on Monday. Hellen Velarde was attending Sunday’s exhibition in the southwestern city of Popayan as a birthday gift when she was crushed by the truck in an incident that caused widespread anger. A second girl and a young woman were also killed, local media reported. Images circulating on social media... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3352422/birthday-girl-10-among-3-dead-colombia-monster-truck-crash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3352422/birthday-girl-10-among-3-dead-colombia-monster-truck-crash?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 May 2026 23:29:34 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick China’s top diplomat on the US-Mexico border denounced protectionism as a dead end at the weekend, delivering a pointed defence of open trade just weeks before Mexico, the United States and Canada sit down to review the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that governs North American commerce. Consul General Fu Xinrong told a business gathering in Tijuana that unilateralism benefits no one and called on nations to build economic ties based on sovereignty and mutual respect rather than... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352418/chinas-consul-tijuana-calls-protectionism-dead-end-trade-tensions-us-escalate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3352418/chinas-consul-tijuana-calls-protectionism-dead-end-trade-tensions-us-escalate?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 May 2026 19:40:46 +0000 Teresa Elena Frontado Teresa Elena Frontado US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order expanding sanctions on Cuba, authorising penalties not only against Cuban officials but also on foreign companies and financial institutions that do business with the island. The order significantly broadens Washington’s ability to exert economic pressure, allowing US authorities to target third-country actors deemed to support the Cuban government, in a move that could have implications for global firms, including those in China and... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3352196/trump-expands-cuba-sanctions-global-reach-targeting-foreign-banks-and-firms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3352196/trump-expands-cuba-sanctions-global-reach-targeting-foreign-banks-and-firms?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 May 2026 19:23:27 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have selected six of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chile exposes smuggling ring that shipped US$917m in stolen copper to China Chinese buyers were the end destination of a five-year smuggling pipeline that drained an estimated US$917 million worth of stolen copper from Chile, authorities said in April after police dismantled the network... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351914/beijing-backs-cuba-brazil-slams-byd-slave-labour-conditions-latin-america-relations-reads?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351914/beijing-backs-cuba-brazil-slams-byd-slave-labour-conditions-latin-america-relations-reads?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 May 2026 15:00:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Brazil’s Congress on Thursday overturned President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s veto of a law dramatically reducing the prison sentence of his arch-rival Jair Bolsonaro, the second major defeat for Lula in as many days. Former president Bolsonaro, 71, was sentenced last year to 27 years behind bars for coup plotting over his attempt to cling to power after losing the 2022 election to Lula. The left-wing Lula had attempted to block a subsequent push by the conservative-majority Congress to reduce... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3352086/brazil-mps-slash-bolsonaro-prison-term-blow-lula?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3352086/brazil-mps-slash-bolsonaro-prison-term-blow-lula?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:39:50 +0000 Teresa Elena Frontado Teresa Elena Frontado With Congress again failing to curb US President Donald Trump’s authority over Cuba, the centre of gravity in US policy towards the island is shifting decisively back to the White House – and to a narrower, more consequential question: what comes next? Tuesday’s 51-47 Senate vote to block a Democratic-led war powers resolution on Cuba does not change policy on its own. It was widely expected, reflecting a long-standing pattern in which Congress has struggled to assert its war powers authority... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3352085/senate-vote-leaves-cubas-uncertain-future-dangerous-crossroads?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3352085/senate-vote-leaves-cubas-uncertain-future-dangerous-crossroads?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:39:15 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The pace of tropical forest destruction slowed in 2025 after record losses the year before but remained at worrying levels equivalent to 11 football fields per minute, researchers said Wednesday. The world lost 4.3 million hectares (10.6 million acres) of tropical primary rainforest last year, down 36 per cent from 2024, said researchers from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the University of Maryland. “A drop of this scale in a single year is encouraging – it shows what decisive... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3351895/tropical-rainforest-loss-eases-after-record-year-still-11-football-fields-minute?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3351895/tropical-rainforest-loss-eases-after-record-year-still-11-football-fields-minute?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:35:31 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Mexico’s most powerful criminal enterprise, suffered another blow on Monday when the Mexican military captured one of its top leaders in the northwest of the country, two months after the cartel’s leader was killed. Audias Flores Silva, also known as “El Jardinero”, or The Gardener, was seen as a possible successor to the killed leader and the United States had a US$5 million reward out for information leading to his arrest. The CJNG regional commander was... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3351654/mexico-captures-top-cartel-leader-el-jardinero-hiding-roadside-ditch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3351654/mexico-captures-top-cartel-leader-el-jardinero-hiding-roadside-ditch?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Apr 2026 05:13:06 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The death toll ⁠from an explosives ⁠attack on a highway ⁠in southwestern Colombia rose to 20 on Sunday, authorities said, as the government blamed a dissident faction of the former FARC guerrilla ‌group for the bombing. The attack happened on Saturday when an explosive device was detonated on a bus traveling along the Pan-American Highway in the municipality of Cajibio. So far, 15 women and five men are among the victims, according to Octavio Guzman, governor of the region of Cauca. He wrote on... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3351446/explosive-device-kills-13-and-injures-38-bus-colombia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3351446/explosive-device-kills-13-and-injures-38-bus-colombia?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Apr 2026 00:02:48 +0000 dpa dpa Argentina has called for talks with the UK over the Falkland Islands after reports the US could review its position on the South Atlantic territory in retaliation for Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s lack of support for the war in Iran. Downing Street had earlier insisted the sovereignty of the Falklands was “not in question”. That came after a leaked internal Pentagon email set out options for President Donald Trump’s administration to punish Nato allies for refusing to join the US-Israeli strikes... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3351428/argentina-renews-call-uk-talks-over-falklands-us-confirms-neutrality?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3351428/argentina-renews-call-uk-talks-over-falklands-us-confirms-neutrality?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Apr 2026 11:26:32 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Hundreds of alleged Mara Salvatrucha gang members sat chained, shaved and mute as they were accused of murder and torture during a mass trial at El Salvador’s notorious CECOT jail on Thursday. Seated in neat columns of plastic chairs in the prison’s main hall, some 220 defendants were accused of collectively carrying out more than 29,000 murders. “We burned her genitals and buttocks” one witness said over the loudspeaker, testifying in a mass trial El Salvador’s president has compared to those... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3351267/shackled-and-shaved-el-salvador-holds-mass-trial-hundreds-gang-members?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3351267/shackled-and-shaved-el-salvador-holds-mass-trial-hundreds-gang-members?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Apr 2026 06:07:36 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg The death of US officials following an operation to dismantle a drug lab in northern Mexico is escalating tensions with Washington, as President Claudia Sheinbaum insists her government was unaware of their involvement. At a news conference, Sheinbaum said Mexican security officials involved in the operation were never told about the presence of foreigners, which she described as a clear breach of security protocols. A person familiar with the matter confirmed that the two US nationals worked... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3351079/deaths-cia-agents-mexico-spark-sovereignty-row-white-house?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3351079/deaths-cia-agents-mexico-spark-sovereignty-row-white-house?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Apr 2026 03:33:12 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Peru’s foreign and defence ministers resigned on Wednesday in protest over the interim president’s decision to stall a US$3.5 billion deal for the purchase of 24 US F-16 fighter jets. The ministers said the deal had already been signed and that to cast doubt on it now jeopardised Peru’s reputation as a trading partner. Despite the president’s declared wish to suspend the purchase, the Ministry of Economy announced late Wednesday that it had transferred US$462 million as part of an initial... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3351057/top-peru-ministers-resign-protest-over-stalled-us-fighter-jet-deal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3351057/top-peru-ministers-resign-protest-over-stalled-us-fighter-jet-deal?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Apr 2026 19:00:36 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Mexico’s government said it was bolstering security at tourist sites after a man opened fire on tourists at pyramids outside Mexico City less than two months before the Fifa World Cup. The Monday shooting, carried out by a lone gunman on top of one of the Teotihuacan pyramids – a Unesco World Heritage Site and one of Mexico’s most frequented tourist attractions – killed one Canadian tourist and injured a dozen more. It also set off a flurry of questions the next morning by reporters to Mexican... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350975/world-cup-co-host-mexico-ramps-security-tourist-sites-after-shooting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350975/world-cup-co-host-mexico-ramps-security-tourist-sites-after-shooting?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Apr 2026 06:06:18 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A gunman killed a Canadian tourist and wounded six other people on Monday at Mexico’s famed Teotihuacan archaeological site, authorities said. The gunman killed himself after opening fire at the heavily visited destination in central Mexico, home to pre-Aztecan pyramids, according to a security official. The shooting occurred on the Pyramid of the Moon, a 45-metre-high monument visitors were allowed to climb using steep steps carved of volcanic rock. Six people were wounded by gunfire and taken... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350790/canadian-tourist-killed-6-people-injured-shooting-mexico-archaeological-site?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350790/canadian-tourist-killed-6-people-injured-shooting-mexico-archaeological-site?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Apr 2026 20:42:31 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A senior Cuban diplomat on Monday confirmed recent talks in Havana with US officials, as the communist-led island faces a deep crisis over President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign. “I can confirm that a meeting between delegations from Cuba and the United States was recently held here in Cuba,” Alejandro Garcia, the foreign ministry’s under-director of Cuba-US affairs, told the Communist Party newspaper Granma. Garcia said that the negotiators included assistant secretaries from the US State... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350789/cuba-confirms-recent-respectful-talks-visiting-us-delegation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350789/cuba-confirms-recent-respectful-talks-visiting-us-delegation?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Apr 2026 19:54:56 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Saturday she had “no regrets” about symbolically handing over her Nobel Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump in January. “There is a leader in the world, a head of state in the world who risked the lives of his country’s citizens for Venezuela’s freedom,” she told a news conference in Madrid. Machado presented her Nobel Prize to Trump when she met him in the White House just two weeks after he ordered US forces to attack Caracas and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350601/venezuelas-machado-says-no-regrets-about-giving-her-nobel-prize-trump?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350601/venezuelas-machado-says-no-regrets-about-giving-her-nobel-prize-trump?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Apr 2026 20:10:19 +0000 Reuters Reuters Mexican ⁠President Claudia Sheinbaum and Spain’s Pedro Sanchez ⁠met in Barcelona on Saturday after a summit of progressive leaders, signalling a rapprochement during the first presidential visit to the Mediterranean country in eight years. The meeting took place during Sheinbaum’s visit to Barcelona to attend the fourth “In defence of democracy” summit, a gathering ‌of global leftist leaders to mobilise advocates of these movements against the far-right. Sheinbaum’s trip marks a softening of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350597/mexico-mends-ties-spain-first-presidential-visit-8-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350597/mexico-mends-ties-spain-first-presidential-visit-8-years?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:30:23 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Thursday that while Cuba does not want military aggression from the United States, his country is prepared to fight should it happen. Diaz-Canel spoke during a rally that drew hundreds of people to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the declaration of the Cuban Revolution’s socialist essence. “The moment is extremely challenging and calls upon us once again, as on April 16, 1961, to be ready to confront serious threats, including military aggression. We do... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350396/cubas-president-says-island-does-not-wish-us-aggression-ready-fight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350396/cubas-president-says-island-does-not-wish-us-aggression-ready-fight?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2026 03:35:53 +0000 Reuters Reuters The International Monetary Fund and ⁠the World Bank said on ⁠Thursday they had resumed dealings with Venezuela, which had been paused since 2019. The move paves the way for a full IMF assessment of Venezuela’s economy for the first time in some 20 years and could eventually unlock billions of dollars in ‌funding via frozen special drawing rights. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement that the Fund, guided by the views of a majority of its members, was now dealing with... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350384/imf-says-it-restoring-relations-venezuela?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350384/imf-says-it-restoring-relations-venezuela?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 23:50:14 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick A senior US lawmaker called on Peru’s next government to reclaim the Chinese-controlled port of Chancay, describing the deepwater facility as a direct military threat to the western hemisphere. Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, said during a hearing on Thursday that Washington would help Peru wrest the megaport from Chinese hands. “The new Peruvian government, which will be elected next June, must take it back, that... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3350379/us-will-help-peru-take-back-chancay-port-china-congress-chair-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3350379/us-will-help-peru-take-back-chancay-port-china-congress-chair-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 21:59:21 +0000 Reuters Reuters Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva delivered a blunt critique of US President Donald Trump in an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais published on Thursday, saying world leaders should seek respect rather than ‌rule by fear. “Trump has no right to wake up in the morning and threaten a country,” Lula told El Pais, referring to the president’s public threat on April 7 to wipe out Iranian civilisation as part of the US-Israeli war on Iran. “He wasn’t elected for that, and his... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350342/brazils-lula-blasts-trumps-fear-based-rule-calls-great-maturity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3350342/brazils-lula-blasts-trumps-fear-based-rule-calls-great-maturity?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:38:32 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The US military said on Tuesday that four people had been killed in a strike on another alleged drug-trafficking boat, the fourth such deadly attack in as many days. US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a post on X that the strike – just as the previous three – occurred in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It posted aerial video on social media showing a vessel bobbing in the water before being struck by a projectile and exploding. The four new fatalities raise the total death toll of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3350107/us-military-says-4-killed-fourth-drug-boat-strike-week?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3350107/us-military-says-4-killed-fourth-drug-boat-strike-week?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2026 02:13:44 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick Brazil will require foreign partners to process rare earth minerals domestically as a condition for access to its reserves, a senior government official said this week, setting terms that could reshape how Chinese and Western firms compete for resources the country has long exported raw. “Our doors of Brazil to foreign investment are open, but our position has matured,” Leonardo Durans, a senior official at Brazil’s industry ministry, said at a press conference with international media on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3350094/brazil-demands-rare-earths-be-processed-home-us-and-china-compete?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3350094/brazil-demands-rare-earths-be-processed-home-us-and-china-compete?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:37:42 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick The Brazilian government has dismissed the head of its labour inspection authority, days after his office added Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD to a registry of employers found to have subjected workers to conditions analogous to slavery. Luiz Felipe Brandao de Mello led the National Secretariat of Labour Inspection since 2023 and his dismissal was published in the official gazette on Monday. He oversaw the unit responsible for enforcing labour standards nationwide, including the fight... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349965/brazil-fires-slave-labour-watchdog-chief-after-byd-blacklisting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349965/brazil-fires-slave-labour-watchdog-chief-after-byd-blacklisting?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:23:31 +0000