Daily Headlines: August 25, 2014

* Colombia: Members of the Colombian military met for the first time with FARC representatives in Cuba days after the rebels met with a group of victims of the South American country’s decades-long armed conflict.

* South America: Two strong earthquakes of magnitude 6.4 and 6.9 struck in Chile and Peru, respectively, over the weekend.

* Mexico: Mexican officials claimed that at least 22,322 people have “disappeared” since 2006 as a result of drug-related violence including nearly 9800 since President Enrique Peña Nieto took office almost two years ago.

* Costa Rica: A spokesman with Sweden’s TV4 television network apologized for the use of the Costa Rican national anthem to promote a comedy program.

Video Source – TeleSUR English via YouTube (“Negotiators in the Colombian peace talks said the negotiations entered a "decisive phase" on Friday.”)

Online Sources – USA TODAY; ABC News; The Guardian; Fox News Latino; Al Jazeera