South America

6.6-magnitude earthquake rattles Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) — A 6.6-magnitude earthquake hit western Guatemala near the Mexico border early on Wednesday, shaking several cities and injuring one person according to preliminary reports, officials said. No tsunami warnings have been issued so far. The quake was registered at 1:29 am local time (0729 GMT), its epicenter around 156 kilometers (97 miles) west of Guatemala City in the department of San Marcos, the Institute of Seismology said. The United States […]

Brazil election court judges due to vote on Temer’s fate

by Carola Sole with Sebastian Smith in Rio de Janeiro Agence France Presse BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Judges on Brazil’s electoral court were expected to start voting Wednesday in a case that could topple scandal-tainted President Michel Temer. The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) is examining whether the 2014 reelection of President Dilma Rousseff and her then-vice president Temer should be invalidated because of corrupt campaign funding. There was no indication in the opening session late Tuesday as […]

6.2-magnitude quake shakes Peru; 2 injured

A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake shook northern Peru on Monday, injuring at least two people and damaging at least one home, authorities said. The quake struck east of the city of Mancora at a depth of 18 kilometers (11 miles), the Peruvian Geophysical Institute said. “Two people have been reported injured and a home has been damaged” in the northern Tumbes region, the National Civil Defense Institute said on Twitter. Peru sits on the so-called Ring […]

Brazilian president lashes out ahead of court verdict

by Carola Sole Agence France-Presse BRASILIA, Brazil  – President Michel Temer and Brazil’s chief prosecutor were in open warfare Monday on the eve of a court verdict that could lead to the scandal-plagued president’s removal from office. The front pages of major newspapers were dominated by accusations made by Temer’s lawyer that Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot is pressuring the Supreme Electoral Tribunal to rule against Temer when it meets to deliver a verdict, starting Tuesday. Temer […]

Brazil election court eyes end to Temer’s presidency

by Damian WROCLAVSKY Agence France-Presse BRASILIA, Brazil – Brazil’s Michel Temer may already be fighting a devastating corruption scandal, but next week he faces a more immediate threat: a court ruling on whether he should even be president. The case in the Supreme Electoral Tribunal or TSE was long considered a slow-burning sideshow to the manic developments in Brazil’s corruption revelations, which have now reached the top. The TSE case alleges that the reelection victory in […]

Former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega dead at 83

Panama’s former leader  Manuel Noriega, ousted from power by United States troops in 1989, and who spent years in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering, has died aged 83, authorities said. Noriega died Monday in Panama City’s Santo Tomas Hospital, where he had been recovering from surgery in March to remove a brain tumor, and from a subsequent operation to clean up cerebral bleeding. President Juan Carlos Varela wrote on Twitter that Noriega’s death “closed […]

50,000 displaced in deadly Brazil floods: authorities

SAO, PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Floods and landslides in northeastern Brazil have killed six people and driven 50,000 people from their homes, authorities said Tuesday. Heavy rain swelled rivers, causing mud slides, felling trees and harming water supplies, they said. The number forced to flee in Pernambuco and Alagoas states rose from an earlier estimate of 30,000, the regional governments said. Both states declared emergencies after the flooding, which left two dead in Pernambuco and […]

Brazil’s Temer orders troops in after protesters trash ministries

by Carola Sole / Damian Wroclavsky Agence France Presse BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian soldiers were deployed Wednesday to defend government buildings in the capital Brasilia after protesters demanding the exit of President Michel Temer smashed their way into ministries and fought with riot police. “At this moment, federal troops are already here in (the foreign ministry),” Defense Minister Raul Jungmann said in a brief televised statement. “And next there are troops arriving to secure all the […]

Massive slide buries stretch of iconic California highway

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A massive rockslide has buried a stretch of California’s iconic seaside Highway 1 which had already been hit by a number of road closures caused by severe winter storms, state transportation officials said Tuesday. The slide on one of America’s most picturesque highways took place on Saturday morning in a remote and largely uninhabited area known as Mud Creek. The road in that section of the highway had already been […]

Temer admits ‘naive’ in Brazil corruption scandal

by Carola Sole and Damian Wroclavsky Agence France-Presse BRASILIA, Brazil – Brazilian President Michel Temer said Monday that he was “naive” to hold the late-night meeting which sparked an explosive corruption scandal, but insisted he’d done nothing wrong and wouldn’t resign. Temer, who faces multiple impeachment demands, told Folha newspaper he had innocently stumbled into the crisis threatening to bring him down just over a year since he replaced impeached president Dilma Rousseff. “Naivety. I […]

Tear gas, rocks fly in Venezuela protest against interior minister

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) — Venezuela’s National Guard used tear gas and a water canon on protesters in Caracas on Thursday (May 18) as tensions spilled over after a march against President Nicolas Maduro’s interior minister was blockaded by armored vehicles. A heavy-powered water canon knocked down protesters and streams of tear gas canisters aimed at the crowd filled the air as demonstrators threw rocks and used sling shots against the national guard. Opposition lawmakers were […]

Mexico fireworks warehouse blast kills 14, including 11 children

by German Campos Agence France-Presse PUEBLA, Mexico  – An explosion at a fireworks warehouse in Mexico killed 14 people, including 11 children, authorities said Tuesday. The blast struck Monday night in a rural area of central Puebla state, Diodoro Carrasco, a senior official in the state government, told radio station Cinco Radio. Officials said the tragedy, which wounded 22 people, was the second in just a matter of just months. The state government said in […]