Canadian governments commit millions to landfill search for remains of slain Indigenous women

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Canada’s federal government and the provincial Manitoba government agreed Friday to spend tens of millions to help search a landfill for the remains of two slain Indigenous women. A sum of $20 million Canadian (US$14.7 million) from each government is to go toward a search of the privately owned Prairie Green landfill … Read more

Colombia suspends ceasefire with faction of ex-FARC rebels following attack on Indigenous community

BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday suspended a ceasefire with one of a handful of armed groups with which he hoped to negotiate peace accords, saying its fighters violated the truce by attacking an Indigenous community. The government said that starting Wednesday it would resume military operations against Estado Mayor Central, a … Read more

Kuwait to hold parliamentary elections on April 4, latest round of voting in years of turmoil

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Kuwait said Saturday it will hold elections for its national assembly on April 4, its latest round of voting after years of political turmoil. The state-run KUNA news agency made the announcement, citing a decree published by the oil-rich country’s official gazette. In February, Kuwait’s emir dissolved parliament after a … Read more

Indian town sets a curfew and orders police to shoot violators after deadly clashes over a mosque

LUCKNOW, India — Authorities in a northern Indian town imposed an indefinite curfew and ordered police to shoot violators after clashes over the construction of a Muslim seminary and a mosque left two people dead and more than 150 injured, officials said Friday. The violence Thursday also led authorities to shut down internet services and … Read more

Microsoft’s Nadella woos Indian developers to the company’s AI tools

BENGALURU, India — Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella urged in a speech to more than a thousand Indian computer code developers on Thursday that they use the company’s artificial intelligence tools being deployed across its products. Speaking in Bengaluru, India’s “Silicon Valley,” Nadella noted that more than 13.2 million Indian developers are currently on GitHub, an … Read more

Mexico’s Purepecha Indigenous group welcomes the New Year with ancient ‘New Fire’ ceremony

OCUMICHO, Mexico — Guided by their ancestral lunar calendar, members of Mexico’s Purepecha Indigenous group celebrated their own New Year’s Eve — a little differently than the West’s traditional New Year. The Purepechas, who live in the western state of Michoacán, preserve the pre-Hispanic belief in the “New Fire” ceremony, a version of which was … Read more

Vatican-affiliated Catholic charity makes last-minute appeal to stop ‘barbarous’ Alabama execution

ROME — A Vatican-affiliated Catholic charity made a last-minute appeal Tuesday to the U.S. state of Alabama to halt a planned execution using nitrogen gas, saying the method is “barbarous” and “uncivilized” and would bring “indelible shame” to the state. The Rome-based Sant’Egidio Community has lobbied for decades to abolish the death penalty around the … Read more

Mining company agrees with court decision ordering Guatemala to grant property rights to community

MEXICO CITY — Solway Investment Group, a Switzerland-based mining company with interests in Guatemala, said Monday it agreed with a regional court’s decision requiring the Guatemalan government to recognize the property rights of an Indigenous community. The company, which was not a party to the case, stressed that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights decision … Read more

Venezuela’s planned vote over territory dispute leaves Guyana residents on edge

SURAMA, Guyana — Congregants of an Anglican church in a sparsely populated rainforest village in Guyana gathered recently to bid on a bounty of bananas, squash and other produce during a community event. They sang hymns and rang a bell after each successful bid. They offered grateful devotions typical of a harvest festival but also … Read more

Panama’s congress backtracks to preserve controversial Canadian mining contract

A bill banning all new mining activities in Panama will go to a third and final vote after another extraordinary session of debate ByThe Associated Press November 2, 2023, 8:21 PM Demonstrators tear down a police barricade as they clash during a protest against a recently approved mining contract between the government and Canadian mining … Read more