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BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) – A top Brazilian court Tuesday rejected a bid by former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to stave off prison, ruling he can be arrested if his 12 year jail sentence is upheld on appeal. The Superior Court of Justice rejected Lula’s habeas corpus petition in a unanimous ruling that sharply raises the risk of prison on corruption charges and money-laundering for the popular leftist leader. The ruling further complicates the 72-year-old’s bid to run […]
by Giovanna Fleitas Agence France Presse VIÑA DEL MAR, Chile (AFP) — Sexual abuse at the hands of priests marked the childhood of Jaime Concha since the day when, at age 10, he entered a school run by the Marist Brothers religious order in Santiago. He is now 55 years old and a doctor. After all these years, his case is one of dozens finally being investigated by the Catholic Church in Chile — […]
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AFP) — Police have seized nearly 400 kilos of cocaine from the Russian embassy in Buenos Aires and arrested several members of a drug trafficking gang, Argentina’s security minister announced Thursday. Patricia Bullrich told a press conference that the drugs discovered in an annex of the embassy had a street value of around 50 million euros (about $62 million). “A gang of narco-criminals was trying to use the diplomatic courier service of […]
LIMA, Peru (AFP) — A double-decker bus veered off a mountain road and plunged into a ravine in southern Peru Wednesday, killing at least 44 people. The bus tumbled 80 meters (260 feet) down a jagged slope from the Pan-American highway — Peru’s main motorway — in the southern region of Arequipa. Arequipa police chief General Walter Ortiz “confirms 44 deaths,” the interior ministry said on its Twitter account, updating an earlier toll of 35. Ortiz said 45 […]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — President Nicolas Maduro called Wednesday for snap legislative elections in Venezuela, proposing to bring them forward by nearly two years to coincide with a presidential poll set for April 22. Maduro said he was proposing the change to the all-powerful Constituent Assembly “to advance the elections.” The idea of bringing forward the legislative elections to April 22 was already mooted by the number two of Maduro’s ruling socialist party on Tuesday. He also […]
by Carlos Mandujano Agence France Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) — A Peruvian court ordered former president Alberto Fujimori on Monday to stand trial for the 1992 killings of six farmers, arguing that he lacks immunity despite a recent pardon for a different crime. The National Criminal Court said the pardon granted to Fujimori in a human rights case for which he was serving a 25-year sentence did not apply to the murders of the group. […]
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — A medium intensity earthquake struck southwestern Mexico early Monday morning, scaring residents already shaken by a powerful quake two days earlier, though there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The US Geological Survey said its magnitude was 5.9 and it struck at a depth of 40.2 kilometers (25 miles), some 32 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of the town of Santa Catarina Mechoacan in Oaxaca state at 0657 […]
SANTIAGO JAMILTEPEC, Mexico (AFP) — The death toll from a helicopter crash that followed a strong earthquake in southern Mexico rose to 14 Sunday, as the defense minister said the government assumed full responsibility. The tragedy struck Friday night as a military helicopter flew the interior minister and other officials to an area near the epicenter of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that shook Mexico earlier that evening. Officials say a dust cloud caused the pilot to […]
by Joshua Howat Berger Agence France Presse MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — A 7.2-magnitude earthquake that rattled Mexico on Friday triggered a tragedy when a minister’s helicopter killed 13 people during a crash-landing on the way to the epicenter. The UH-60 Black Hawk military helicopter landed on its side, crushing a van. There were no reported casualties from the quake itself, which damaged buildings. The chopper was carrying Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete and […]
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — A helicopter carrying the Mexican interior minister and a governor crashed near the epicenter of a powerful earthquake in the country’s south on Friday, killing two people who were on the ground, officials said. Interior Minister Alfonso Navarrete and Alejandro Murat, governor of the state of Oaxaca, were on their way to survey the scene of the destruction left by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake when the accident occurred, the […]
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — A strong earthquake shook a large swathe of southern and central Mexico on Friday, triggering the quake alarm system in Mexico City and causing buildings to sway. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from the quake, which measured 7.2 in magnitude, according to Mexico’s National Seismological Service and the US Geological Survey. Panicked residents flooded into the street, fearing a repeat of two earthquakes last September […]
by Miguel SANCHEZ Agence France-Presse PARANAL, Chile (AFP) – It seems nothing can escape the inexorable spread of light pollution — not even the giant telescopes probing the heavens above northern Chile, a region whose pristine dark skies, long considered a paradise for astronomers, are under increasing threat. The Atacama desert, 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) north of the capital Santiago, provides ideal conditions where astronomers study the stars in darkness so profound they appear like diamonds on […]
