Abelardo de la Espriella’s government hired the trust company that will manage earthquake reconstruction money without open competition. It will pay 248.6 million pesos a month, with no end date. Colombia’s Finance Ministry picked Fiducoldex, the Colombian Foreign Trade Trust Company, through direct contracting to set up and run the Fondo Milagro, or Miracle Fund.… Continue reading Colombia Hands Fiducoldex a No-Bid Contract Worth 248.6 Million Pesos a Month to Run the Miracle Fund

Flávio Bolsonaro, son of a former president convicted of attempting a coup, finished first at the ballot box. Lula, who expected to win outright, has three weeks to recover 2.2 million votes. Flávio Bolsonaro, a 45-year-old senator from the Liberal Party, won 47.03% of the vote in Brazil’s first round on Sunday, October 4. Luiz… Continue reading Flávio Bolsonaro Edges Lula in Brazil’s First Round With 47.03%, Forcing an October 25 Runoff

Venezuela’s interim government released 131 people detained on political grounds. Marco Rubio called it a crucial step toward reconciliation. Human rights groups answer with a different number: more than 300 are still locked up. Venezuela’s interim government announced Friday, August 14, the granting of “alternative measures to deprivation of liberty” for 131 people detained for… Continue reading Venezuela Releases 131 Political Prisoners, but Rights Groups Say Over 300 Remain Behind Bars

Ricardo Verduzco Bernal was coordinating elite sports for the Sinaloa state government until July 31. Twelve days later, the FBI found him in a Salt Lake City hotel room with 11 kilograms of fentanyl, enough for 111,000 pills. FBI agents arrested Ricardo Verduzco Bernal, 54, on August 12 in a hotel room in Salt Lake… Continue reading FBI Arrests Former Sinaloa Sports Official in Utah With 111,000 Fentanyl Pills

For two years, Israel said its soldiers weren’t near the car. On Wednesday, it admitted they fired on it, then opened a criminal probe into the killing of a five-year-old girl. Hind Rajab died in Gaza City on January 29, 2024, after Israeli forces opened fire on the car carrying her and six family members… Continue reading Israel Admits Firing on Hind Rajab’s Car After Two Years of Denial

Abelardo de la Espriella has been Colombia’s president for twelve days. He has already handed prosecutors, the inspector general and the comptroller a 135-page document alleging 82 corruption cases from the government that just left office. Gustavo Petro says none of it amounts to a crime. President Abelardo de la Espriella delivered a document titled… Continue reading Colombia’s New Government Hands Prosecutors a 135-Page Report Alleging 82 Corruption Cases From the Petro Era

Iraq wants to more than double its oil production within six years. Its own prime minister is making that pitch weeks after the war next door forced most of the country’s oil fields to shut down entirely. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi told a policy conference in Baghdad on Friday that Iraq is targeting production of… Continue reading Iraq Wants to Nearly Triple Oil Output to 10 Million Barrels a Day. The War Just Showed Why It Can’t.

Seven European governments and Canada called it unacceptable. Brussels is now drafting the paperwork to make that word mean something. Israeli authorities published a construction tender on August 18 for 1,234 housing units in the E1 area of the West Bank, land that sits between East Jerusalem and the settlement of Maale Adumim. The units… Continue reading EU Drafts Sanctions Against Israel Over 1,234 Homes in the West Bank

A record that stood since 1904 fell this month in a single city. Nineteen people in South Korea did not survive the heat that broke it. The southeastern city of Yangsan recorded 42.5 degrees Celsius, or 108.5 Fahrenheit, the highest temperature South Korea has logged since national weather observation began 122 years ago. South Korea’s… Continue reading South Korea Hit 42.5 Degrees This Summer, the Hottest Reading in 122 Years

Daniel Ortega said Nicaragua will “never again” hold elections. Twenty-nine OAS countries answered by invoking the organization’s highest diplomatic mechanism. Managua wasn’t even in the room: it withdrew from the OAS in 2023. The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States voted Wednesday, August 19, to urgently convene a consultative meeting of foreign ministers… Continue reading OAS Summons Foreign Ministers After Ortega Says Nicaragua Will Never Hold Elections Again