South America

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EU Delays Free-Trade Deal in Face of Farmers' Protests

Trade agreement with South American bloc had been in negotiations for 26 years

(Newser) - The European Union is delaying a massive free-trade deal with South American countries after fiery protests by farmers and last-minute opposition by France and Italy threatened to derail the pact, seen by its backers as an important geopolitical move for both continents. Top EU officials had hoped to sign the...

US Military Announces Its 20th Boat Strike

4 are reported dead after Caribbean Sea hit that US government alleges targeted a drug vessel

(Newser) - The US military's 20th strike on a boat accused of transporting drugs has killed four people in the Caribbean Sea, the US military said Friday, coming as the Trump administration escalates its campaign in South American waters. The latest strike happened Monday, according to a social media post on...

Portugal Intercepts Narco-Sub Carrying 1.7 Tons of Cocaine

Crew members from 4 countries arrested after mid-Atlantic bust

(Newser) - Portuguese authorities have intercepted a narco-submarine carrying more than 1.7 tons of cocaine in the mid-Atlantic, arresting four crew members from South America and sinking the vessel after deeming it too fragile to tow ashore, the BBC reports. The semi-submersible, believed to be headed for the Iberian Peninsula, was...

Pentagon Sending Aircraft Carrier to South America

It's the latest US military escalation in the region

(Newser) - Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said Friday the military is deploying an aircraft carrier to the waters off South America, a move the Washington Post describes as a "major escalation" of the US military presence in the region. Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to...

US Hits 2 More Alleged Drug Vessels, This Time in Pacific

Tuesday night strike occurred off Colombia, followed by Wednesday strike also in the Pacific

(Newser) - Shortly after launching its eighth strike since last month on an alleged drug vessel, the US carried out its ninth, once again in the Pacific Ocean. The strike came Wednesday and left three people dead, bringing the death toll for all the strikes to 37, the AP reports. "Just...

'Extinct' Gecko Rediscovered After Rat Removal

Turns out the leaf-toed gecko wasn't actually gone from an island in the Galápagos

(Newser) - A species of tiny and secretive geckos long thought lost on one Galápagos island has made a dramatic return, and all it really took was calling someone about the rat problem. NewScientist reports that conservationists rediscovered the elusive leaf-toed gecko on Rábida Island—a small, hilly isle overrun...

A Surprise Find About Ancient 'Terror Birds'

Fossil suggests these apex predators sometimes ended up as prey, too

(Newser) - A fossil discovery in Colombia is reshaping how scientists view the prehistoric pecking order. Researchers examining a 13-million-year-old bone from a so-called "terror bird"—a flightless creature known for its imposing size and lethal beak—have found evidence that even those apex predators sometimes ended up on...

In Suriname, Most Homes Have This Pesticide. It's Killing People

Deadly pesticide paraquat drives spike in suicide rates in the South American nation

(Newser) - Suriname, a small country on South America's Atlantic coast, has one of the world's highest suicide rates, with most of those deaths linked directly to a single pesticide: paraquat. Widely used for weed control, paraquat is lethal in tiny amounts, has been tied to Parkinson's , has...

Bird Flu Continues to Wreak Havoc, Killing Seals Worldwide

Tens of thousands of seals, sea lions have died, and scientists aren't sure how to slow the spread

(Newser) - Avian influenza is killing tens of thousands of seals and sea lions in different corners of the world, disrupting ecosystems and flummoxing scientists who don't see a clear way to slow the devastating virus . The worldwide bird flu outbreak that began in 2020 has led to the deaths of...

After the Super Bowl, a Big Couple of Firsts for the NFL

League will hold its first game in South America in September, with Eagles playing in Brazil

(Newser) - It's off to Sin City for the Super Bowl, then the Land of Drizzle for the first week of the NFL's next season. Fox News reports that the Philadelphia Eagles are heading to Brazil for a Week 1 game, against a still-to-be-announced competitor, the league's first game...

Bummed Taylor Swift Fans Get a Reprieve From an Airline

After Friday concert in Buenos Aires was postponed until Sunday, LATAM waived change fees

(Newser) - Travis Kelce made it to apparent girlfriend Taylor Swift's show in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Saturday (and gave her a public smooch ), but others weren't so lucky if they had tickets to Friday night's performance. That show was canceled due to "truly chaotic" weather, per...

Newsom Threatens DeSantis After 'Immoral' Migrant Move

More migrants allegedly sent by Sunshine State dropped off in Sacramento

(Newser) - After 16 South American migrants were allegedly sent from Florida to California on Friday, California officials say Florida did the same thing with a group of 20 migrants Monday. In response, California Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared to threaten DeSantis, whom he called a "small, pathetic man," with kidnapping...

Authorities: Teen Upset Over Phone Set Deadly Dorm Fire

19 victims at boarding school in Mahdia, Guyana, had been locked in for the night by house mother

(Newser) - Investigators in Guyana believe a fire that killed 19 people, mostly girls, trapped in a school dormitory was deliberately set by a student who was upset that her mobile phone had been confiscated, a top official said Tuesday. The suspect in the fire late Sunday, who's among the injured,...

South America's Lithium Reserves Are a Boon—Maybe

'Wall Street Journal' looks at the obstacles in extracting one of world's biggest reserves

(Newser) - As the appetite for electric vehicles grows, the Wall Street Journal sees an obstacle in the way of production expanding at a similar clip: South America. The continent is one of three places on Earth—the others being Australia and China—that have substantial reserves of lithium, the metal needed...

This Dino Species Has 'Something Never Seen Before'
This Dino Species Has
'Something Never Seen Before'
in case you missed it
Dec 5, 2021 11:40 AM CST

This Dino Species Has 'Something Never Seen Before'

Fossil of dog-sized stegouros shows it had a tail that could slash, slice like an ancient Aztec weapon

(Newser) - A fossil found in Chile is from a strange-looking dog-sized dinosaur species that had a unique slashing tail weapon, scientists reported Wednesday. Some dinosaurs had spiked tails they could use as stabbing weapons, and others had tails with clubs. The new species, described in a study in the journal Nature...

Prison Gang Battle Leaves 68 Dead in Ecuador

At least 25 wounded in the coastal city of Guayaquil

(Newser) - A gun battle between rival gangs inside Ecuador’s largest prison killed at least 68 inmates and wounded 25 on Saturday, while authorities said it took most of the day to regain control at the Litoral Penitentiary, per the AP . The killing erupted before dawn at the prison in the...

Ex-President of Bolivia Recovering After Apparent Suicide Attempt

Jeanine Anez, charged with 'genocide,' in stable condition after apparently cutting her arms

(Newser) - On Friday, Bolivian prosecutors charged Jeanine Anez—the former president of Bolivia, already in detention after being accused in March of leading a coup against another ex-Bolivian president, Evo Morales—with "genocide." Police are now saying the 54-year-old Anez tried to kill herself over the weekend in jail....

Native Americans Met Another People in 1200AD
Native Americans Met
Another People in 1200AD
new study
Jul 12, 2020 2:50 PM CDT

Native Americans Met Another People in 1200AD

Indigenous Americans and Polynesians met and procreated, study says

(Newser) - Thousands of miles apart, with shared DNA—they definitely met somewhere. That's the conclusion of a new study into Indigenous Americans and Polynesians who apparently bridged the oceanic gap between them and procreated some 800 years ago, the Guardian reports. "These findings change our understanding of one of...

Another World Leader Tests Positive
Another World Leader 
Has the Virus
Jul 10, 2020 12:31 AM CDT

Another World Leader Has the Virus

Bolivia’s interim president tests positive for COVID-19

(Newser) - Bolivia’s interim president, Jeanine Áñez, has tested positive for COVID-19. "I feel good, I feel strong, I will continue to work virtually from my isolation," she says in a video posted to her Twitter account, per NPR . Three cabinet ministers in her administration have also...

Scientists Found Teeth in Peru That Shouldn't Be There

Extinct monkeys in South America apparently arrived there by raft from Africa

(Newser) - Archaeologists in the Amazon found four small teeth that had no business being in South America. The teeth are from an extinct species of monkeys from the family of primates known as parapithecids—which once roamed in North Africa. In a new paper in Science , researchers lay out what they...

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