Mexican vigilantes take over town

Hundreds of armed vigilantes have taken control of a town on a major highway in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, arresting local police officers and searching homes after one of their leaders was killed. Several opened fire on a car of Mexican tourists headed to the beach for Easter week.

Members of the area's self-described "community police" say more than 1,500 members of the force were stopping traffic on Wednesday at improvised checkpoints in the town of Tierra Colorado, which sits on the highway connecting Mexico City to Acapulco. They arrested 12 police and the former director of public security in the town after a leader of the state's vigilante movement was slain on Monday.

Uruguay votes to legalise gay marriage

Uruguayan lawmakers voted on Wednesday to legalise gay marriage, making the South American country the third in the Americas to do so.

Supporters of the law, who had filled the public seats in the Senate, erupted in celebration when the results were announced. The bill received the backing of 71 members of the 92-seat chamber.

"We are living a historic moment," said Federico Grana, a leader of the Black Sheep Collective, a gay rights group that drafted the proposal. "In terms of the steps needed, we calculate that the first gay couples should be getting married 90 days after the promulgation of the law, or in the middle of July."

The "marriage equality project," as it is called, was already approved by ample majorities in both of Uruguay's legislative houses, but senators had made some changes requiring a final vote by the deputies.

Among them: gay and lesbian foreigners will now be allowed to come to Uruguay to marry, just as heterosexual couples can, said Michelle Suarez of the Black Sheep Collective.

Cuba hands over US couple and children

The couple accused of kidnapping their two young sons and fleeing by boat to Cuba has been booked into a Florida jail after being handed over to US authorities.

According to a website for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Joshua Michael Hakken and his wife Sharyn were being held at the jail on Wednesday on a number of charges including kidnapping, child neglect and interference with custody.

Cuba agreed to hand over the American couple on Tuesday.

US diplomats in Havana said in a statement early on Wednesday that the two children had left Cuba and "are safely on their way home".

Officials in Florida have been searching for Joshua Hakken since last week when he allegedly broke into his mother-in-law's house near Tampa, tied her up and fled with his young boys.

Hakken lost custody of his sons last year and later tried to take the children from a foster home at gunpoint, authorities said.

The sheriff's office in Hillsborough County confirmed that Hakken lost custody of the children after being arrested in Louisiana on drug charges in June 2012, following what police described as "an anti-government rally".

Campaigning closes ahead of Venezuela vote

Caracas, Venezuela — Official campaigning has closed ahead of Venezuela’s election, as interim president Nicolas Maduro and opposition challenger Henrique Capriles made their final speeches to voters.

Hundreds of thousands rallied in Caracas, the capital, to support Maduro. Some wore the trademark red shirts of the Socialist Party and fake mustaches in the bushy style of their candidate.

Capriles’ supporters mobilised in the city of Acarigua, where their nominee promised major changes in the country that is believed to hold the world’s largest oil reserves.

“I am here to seal a commitment to the humble people because they hear that Venezuela has a lot of oil and resources which don’t reach those who need them,” Capriles told supporters.

Worry grows over Mexico vigilante movement

MEXICO CITY — Debate is intensifying over armed vigilante patrols that have sprung up in crime-plagued sections of rural Mexico, particularly in the state of Guerrero, where some patrols joined forces this week with a radical teachers union that has been wreaking havoc with massive protests, vandalism and violent confrontations with police.

The two groups, on the surface, would appear to have little in common. The vigilante patrols, typically made up of masked campesinos, are among dozens that have emerged in the countryside in recent months, purporting to protect their communities from the depredations of the drug cartels. The state-level teachers union, meanwhile, has taken to the streets to protest a sweeping education reform law backed by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
Their alliance was announced in a joint meeting Sunday. A leader of the vigilantes said they were joining with the teachers because it was the vigilantes' "watchword to fight against injustice."
The groups took part in their first joint demonstration this week in Chilpancingo, the capital of the southern state, which is home to the well-known resort city of Acapulco. The vigilantes apparently chose to march unarmed, and there were no reports of serious trouble.
But there is concern that an already-volatile series of political protests may take on a violent edge.
Before the alliance was announced, stick- and pipe-wielding members of the union, known as the State Coordinating Committee of Guerrero Education Workers, three times had blocked the key freeway connecting Mexico City and Acapulco, disrupting commerce during Acapulco's crucial spring break season.

Powering your electronics: South America's 'lithium triangle'

Argentina, Chile and Bolivia hold the planet's largest reserves of lithium, the world's lightest metal and a key component in batteries used to power a range of technologies from cell phones to laptops to electric cars. Industrial production from countries in this so-called "lithium triangle" is already high. Chile is the world's leading source of the metal, turning out around 40 percent of global supply, and Argentina is also a significant producer. Output from the Andes may soon rise after Bolivia - the country that holds an estimated 50 percent of the world's lithium reserves - opened its first lithium pilot plant in January.

Uruguay Becomes Second Country In Latin America To Legalize Gay Marriage

Gay couples in Uruguay can begin to marry in mid-July, after lawmakers passed historic legislation legalizing same-sex marriage on Wednesday.
The South American country is now the second in the region, after Argentina, to legalize gay marriage.
When the results were announced, supporters of the law, who had filled the public seats in the legislative building, erupted in celebration. The bill received the backing of 71 of the 92 members of the Chamber of Deputies present.

"We are living a historic moment," said Federico Grana, a leader of the Black Sheep Collective, a gay rights group that drafted the proposal. "In terms of the steps needed, we calculate that the first gay couples should be getting married 90 days after the promulgation of the law, or in the middle of July."
The "marriage equality project," as it is called, was already approved by ample majorities in both legislative houses, but senators made some changes that required a final vote by the deputies. Among them: Gay and lesbian foreigners will now be allowed to come to Uruguay to marry, just as heterosexual couples can, said Michelle Suarez of the Black Sheep Collective.
President José Mujica, whose governing Broad Front majority backed the law, is expected to put it into effect within 10 days.
Nationalist Sen. Gerardo Amarilla opposed the law, saying it "debases the institution of marriage" and affects the family, especially in its "role in procreation."
The vote makes Uruguay the third country in the Americas after Canada and Argentina to eliminate laws making marriage, adoption and other family rights exclusive to heterosexuals. In all, 12 nations around the world now have taken this step.
While some countries have carved out new territory for gay and lesbian couples without affecting heterosexual married couples, Uruguay is creating a single set of rules for all people, gay or straight. Instead of the words "husband and wife" in marriage contracts, it refers to the gender-neutral "contracting parties."

Addicts shoot up in safe haven in Canada

 

TORONTO, April 11 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar firmed a
third of a cent against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, touching
its strongest level in nearly two months, lifted by signs of a
growing Chinese recovery and Japan's aggressive monetary policy
easing.
    The strength came early in the session and mostly held
through the day, following the lead of fellow commodity-linked,
and higher-yielding, currencies in Australia and New Zealand.
    "It's just a little bit of catch-up on the Canadian dollar
front. Aussie and Kiwi had been bid up quite nicely yesterday,"
said Matt Perrier, managing director of foreign exchange sales
at BMO Capital Markets.
    It has been a case of gradual strengthening for the loonie,
as Canada's currency is colloquially known, after it fell
earlier in the year on a string of weak economic data that
forced the country's central bank to soften its rate-hike bias.
    "Since we've been coming off the weakest points for the
Canadian dollar back in February, we've been slowly notching in
lower highs on any Canadian dollar weakness," Perrier said.
    Assets that benefit from stronger growth, which typically
include the loonie, have also rallied since the Bank of Japan
unveiled a radical stimulus program a week ago.
    In addition to the Canadian dollar, the MSCI's world equity
index has hit levels last seen in June 2008.
Market sentiment has also taken the S&P 500 index of U.S.
stocks to a record high.

Nigeria, Canada set to partner in various sectors

Copyright : APA

Nigeria is set to partner with Canada in the development of its mining sector, power generation, the aviation sector and film production, according to Nigeria’s Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga.

Canadian Dollar Strengthens on Speculation of Flows From Japan

The Canadian dollar strengthened against the U.S. dollar for the third day as investors seek higher-yielding currencies of commodity-exporting nations.

The loonie, as the currency is nicknamed, gained on speculation heightened demand from Japan for cross-border assets will result from a stimulus package announced last week by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda. The Australian and New Zealand dollars also advanced.

4 charged in deadly Brazil nightclub fireBy Lateef Mungin and Marilia Brocchetto, CNN

CNN) -- Prosecutors this week indicted four people connected to a deadly blaze at a Brazilian nightclub that left hundreds dead.

The four suspects now face homicide and attempted homicide charges in connection with the January inferno at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, Brazil, prosecutors said.

The suspects were identified as club owners Elissandro Spohr and Mauro Hoffman, vocalist Marcelo de Jesus dos Santos, and show producer Luciano Bonilha.

Inside of destroyed nightclub revealed

Deadly blazes: Nightclub tragedies in recent history

The musicians are accused of using pyrotechnics that they knew were for outdoor use to save money, prosecutors said. The club owners are accused of allowing an overcrowded, dangerous environment that added to the deadly outcome, prosecutors said.

The nightclub was filled well beyond its legal capacity with the crowd of 2,000 people, who packed the club to hear the band play.

When the fire raged the crowd panicked, broke into a stampede, and clogged the club's the only exit.

Authorities have said that at least 235 people died in the blaze and many others were critically injured.

4 Latin American elections: What to watch

BOSTON — Much attention has turned again to Venezuela ahead of its April 14 presidential election, but it isn't the only Latin American country gearing up for a critical vote this year.

Several nations in the Americas will head to polls in 2013 to choose a leader, with some predicted to swing left and others right.

Here's what to watch in the coming weeks and months.

April 14: Venezuela's voodoo vote
It seems like yesterday Venezuela was embroiled in a bitter campaign. That was October. After that election winner, Hugo Chavez, died last month, officials called a snap election for April 14.

To think, if it were the United States, then-Vice President Nicolas Maduro would serve out the president's six-year term.

Instead, Maduro, who became acting president after "el Comandante" died (some say before), is running against Henrique Capriles, the same youthful candidate who gave Chavez his toughest race in 14 years of rule.

A grisly crime surges into spotlight as Mexico shifts drug war strategy

By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN

updated 11:50 PM EDT, Thu March 28, 2013

(CNN) -- It was a staggering sight, even in a Mexican city that has seen its share of violence in recent years as drug-related crimes surged.

Seven bodies sat slumped in white plastic chairs placed near a central plaza in Uruapan, Mexico.

Local media reported messages were left behind, written on poster board and pinned to some of the victims' bodies with icepicks.

The men appeared to have been killed by gunfire, and investigators believe organized crime groups are to blame, Mexico's state-run Notimex news agency said. Investigators haven't provided details about who they suspect was responsible or why they targeted the men -- windshield washers and farm workers, according to Notimex.

LAAD: South American countries partner to develop new trainer

Seven South American countries have pledged to develop and fly a new basic trainer by 2015 to replace ageing fleets of aircraft such as the Brazilian Neiva T-25 Universal.

The agreement was announced on 9 April by the defence ministers of Argentina and Brazil, and also includes participation from Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The project, named Unasur 1 - an adaptation of the acronym for the Union of South American Nations - was unveiled with a long list of specifications, but few details about who will be responsible for designing and building the aircraft.

Stephen Trimble/Flightglobal

The manufacturer must be a company other than Embraer, however. The manufacturer designed the T-26 Tucano trainer for the Brazilian military, but the T-25 replacement is a step below the Tucano in capability and outside the company's interests.

The Unasur 1 is listed with a 1,590kg (3,505lb) maximum take-off weight, a 210kt (388km/h) performance in level flight, and a glass cockpit. It will feature a piston engine for primary training, and a turbine engine for basic and primary training

Mexican congressman Ricardo Monreal delivers a speech prior to the Mexican president's inauguration on December 1.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• A group of suspected hitmen are arrested in Mexico City
• They are accused of plotting to kill two brothers who are lawmakers
• Authorities did not reveal a possible motive

(CNN) -- Mexican authorities say they've foiled a plot to assassinate two lawmakers.

A group of suspected hitmen was arrested at a Mexico City hotel and accused of planning to kill Rep. Ricardo Monreal and Sen. David Monreal, brothers who are both federal legislators, Mexico's Attorney General's Office said.

Authorities did not reveal a possible motive or specify how many people were arrested.

Both lawmakers are from Mexico's Zacatecas state.