Daily Headlines: March 31, 2016

* Brazil: Police believe that a 16-year-old girl in Rio de Janeiro has been the victim of a gang rape but worry that rape kit tests may have been done days too late.

* Guatemala: Anabela Morfin has been named as Guatemala’s new attorney general after her predecessor resigned and will leave the country in response to death threats.

* Venezuela: LATAM Airlines and Lufthansa have become the latest air carriers to suspend service in Venezuela due to nonpayment of debts and amid great economic uncertainty.

* Chile: A “red tide” outbreak of algae that has paralyzed the Chilean fishing industry is blamed for a dive in manufacturing production last April.

YouTube Source – France 24 English
 
Online Sources – CBS News, ABC News, euronews, Reuters

Daily Headlines: May 13, 2016

* Chile: A “red tide” outbreak of toxic algae off the Chilean coast has led to the deaths of thousands of marine animals and paralyzed the local fishing industry.

* Colombia: Representatives of the Colombian government and FARC rebels agreed to a plan to judicially shield an anticipated peace deal, while prosecutors charged ELN guerilla commanders with nearly 16,000 crimes.

* Brazil: Should the Rio Olympics scheduled for this August be suspended or moved in light of Brazil’s political crisis and worry over the Zika virus epidemic?

* Mexico: Mexico's deputy secretary for finance warned that possible plans of a new U.S. president to use remittances to pay for a border wall could hinder bilateral efforts to prevent money laundering by criminals and drug cartels.

YouTube Source – CCTV America

Online Sources – Voice of America, Colombia Reports, InSight Crime, CTV News, Los Angeles Times

Daily Headlines: November 2, 2015

* Brazil: According to Brazilian daily O Estado de Sao Paulo, Volkswagen is negotiating settling a lawsuit claiming that the automaker turned a blind eye to the detention and torture of factory workers during the military dictatorship from the 1960s to 1980s.

* U.S.: Salvador Perez became the second Venezuelan to win the World Series Most Valuable Player award after the Kansas City Royals clinched the crown in five games.

* Argentina: U.S. federal judge Thomas Griesa ordered the Argentine government to pay an additional $6.1 billion to credit holders before paying off holdouts owed for the country’s historic 2001 debt default.

* Mexico: The Mexican Navy on Sunday rescued four fishermen who went missing after leaving the Ecuadoran port of Esmeraldas on September 24th and drifted 1200 miles away.

YouTube Source – NewsBeat Social (“A lawsuit filed September 22nd accuses German Automaker Volkswagen of condoning the torture of employees by the then-military government of Brazil in 1972.”)
 
Online Sources – Deutsche Welle, ESPN, Latin American Herald Tribune, GlobalPost

Weekend Headlines: August 31, 2013 to September 2, 2013

* Peru: Drones may be associated primarily with use for military purposes but archeologists in Peru are using them in order to help with mapmaking and the protection of digging sites.

* Argentina: Are British oil firms that recently received a twenty-year ban from operating in Argentina linked to an energy project with Chevron in that South American country?

* Latin America: The escalating tensions in Syria have reportedly worried some of the millions of people of Syrian descent residing in Latin America.

* U.S.: A group of Cuban migrants that traveled to the U.S. claimed that they were beaten and sexually abused by guards at a Bahamian detention center.

Daily Headlines: January 15, 2013 (UPDATED)

* Puerto Rico: Protests by social media groups may’ve led to the resignation last week of the voice behind controversially outspoken Puerto Rican TV puppet La Comay.

Update: Has the uproar against recent homophobic remarks by La Comay caused legislators to reconsider an anti-discrimination bill that had been dormant for years?   

* Chile: Chile became the world’s first country to prohibit bottom trawling, a fishing practice that causes damage to ocean life.

* Guatemala: The mayor of the town of Jutiapa was killed on the same day that President Otto Perez Molina said there had been "a historic decline" in Guatemalan violence during his first year in office.

* Latin America: Vale (Brazil), Cemex (Mexico) and Tenaris (Argentina) are some of the firms were named in a report of the top 100 companies from developing nations that are pushing global growth.

Video Source – YouTube via user 40viajero (Puerto Rican celebrities joined in the uproar against La Comay who made homophobic comments about the brutal murder of a gay publicist last month).

Online Sources- New American Media, National Geographic, New York Times, BBC News

Daily Headlines: May 16, 2012

* Colombia: President Juan Manuel Santos said that officials do not know who was responsible for a deadly bombing in Bogota that allegedly targeted a former minister.

* Puerto Rico: The U.S. Supreme Court rejected hearing a case challenging Puerto Rican voting restrictions.

* Brazil: A spokesman for the Brazilian Foreign Ministry warned that the biggest challenge for next month’s Rio+20 environmental summit is to reach consensus and "to conciliate multiple interests."

* Panama: The only survivor of a Panamanian fishing boat that was lost for twenty-eight days is suing a cruise company whose ship allegedly ignored his calls for rescue.

Video Source – YouTube via TVPublicaArgentina

Online Sources- CNN, UPI, CBC News, Xinhua

Daily Headlines: February 6, 2009

* Peru: According to one report, thirty-three countries- including Peru- are “highly vulnerable” of having their fishing industry suffer due to climate change.

* Mexico: While Mexico has its first bilingual state, parents in Virginia are calling for continued funding of bilingual education classes.

* Brazil: A federal judge has refused to toss out a tax evasion case against race driver Helio Castroneves.

* Haiti: Eleven U.S. legislators have signed a letter calling for an investigation of the Bush administration's role in the 2004 coup d’état in Haiti.

Image- daylife.com (“Hundred of "Guanay" birds fly around a fishing boat next to Asia Island in Peru, Friday, July 4, 2008.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, BBC News, UPI, washingtonpost.com, haitiaction.net

Daily Headlines: October 25, 2008

* Brazil: Could the intervention of the Brazilian government lead to peace in Zimbabwe?

* Cuba: The E.U. officially renewed its ties with Cuba including sending over $2.5 million in emergency aid to the storm-ravaged island.

* Chile: Consumer advocacy groups in the U.S. want authorities to look into allegedly tainted Chilean salmon.

* Honduras: President Manuel Zelaya’s popularity continues to fall with only 1 in 4 of his countrymen supporting him.

Image- Christian Science Monitor (“Resolve it, please: Zimbabwean women held a mini-demonstration inside the Rainbow Towers Hotel in the capital, Harare, last week. A regional emergency summit started Monday.”)
Sources- Angus Reid Consultants, AP, BBC News, allAfrica.com