Guatemala

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Gymnast Turned Shooter Wins Guatemala's First Olympic Gold

Adriana Ruano was forced to pivot after injury ended her career

(Newser) - A spinal injury ended Adriana Ruano's chances of competing at the Olympics as a gymnast. She came back as a shooter and won Guatemala's first gold medal on Wednesday, the AP reports. Ruano was training for the 2011 world championships in gymnastics, a qualifier for the London Olympics...

Police Shove Officials in Election Document Raid

International organizations criticize raids as effort to taint voting results

(Newser) - Police officers shoved and wrestled with justices of Guatemala's top electoral tribunal Saturday, as prosecutors sought to seize the tally sheets of votes from the August presidential elections. There were harrowing scenes of justices holding tight to boxes, as police tried to wrestle them away as part of raids...

Mother, Daughter Missing After Car Falls Into Sinkhole

Their car tumbled into the hole on Saturday

(Newser) - The search for a mother and daughter whose car plunged into a huge sinkhole in Guatemala City changed to a recovery effort Tuesday, three days after they disappeared. Late Tuesday, authorities said they believed they had located their car using geological technology at a depth of about 50 feet. Mynor...

She Told Sons: 'I Hope You Triumph.' They Died in the Truck

Tractor-trailer with migrants had passed through federal checkpoint hours earlier

(Newser) - Among the 53 people who died from extreme heat inside a tractor-trailer in San Antonio this week are two boys from southwestern Guatemala, ages 13 and 14, and a pair of brothers from northwestern Honduras who'd hoped to buy their mother a home. Karen Caballero says her sons, Fernando...

It's in 50% of Packaged Foods, but the Cost Is Steep

The Baffler looks at the problem with palm oil plantations in Guatemala

(Newser) - Palm oil is in half of all packaged supermarket products, not only in foods but also cosmetics. The stout palm oil tree has always been an important food source in its native West Africa, but its use in global consumer products has exploded in the past few decades. Today, Indonesia...

Stowaway Endures Over 2-Hour Flight Inside Plane Landing Gear

Temperatures likely hovered below zero

(Newser) - Federal authorities have taken into custody a 26-year-old man who apparently stowed away in the landing gear compartment of an American Airlines fight that arrived at Miami International Airport from Guatemala on Saturday morning, per the AP. The man was in the wheel well area when the flight arrived...

Anti-Vaccine Villagers Hold Nurses Hostage, Destroy Vaccines

Nurses were trying to administer vaccines in Guatemala

(Newser) - Anti-vaccine residents of a village in Guatemala seized and held hostage a team of nurses who were trying to administer coronavirus shots Monday, authorities said. The team was held for about seven hours in the village of Nahuila, in the province of Alta Verapaz, north of Guatemala City, the AP...

Kamala Harris' Message to Guatemalans: 'Do Not Come'

VP speaks during her trip to Central American country

(Newser) - Vice President Kamala Harris offered an optimistic outlook for improved cooperation with Guatemala on addressing the spike in migration to the US after her meeting with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Monday. She also delivered a direct warning to migrants considering making the trek, the AP reports: “Do not...

It's a Pivotal Week in Harris' 'Fraught, Fascinating' Tenure

All political eyes on the vice president as she heads to Guatemala and Mexico

(Newser) - Kamala Harris has embarked on her first foreign trip as vice president, though things got off to a bumpy start. Her plane out of Joint Base Andrews had to turn back after 30 minutes because of an unspecified "technical issue" on Sunday, reports the AP . Harris, though, boarded a...

Guatemalan Forces Clash With Migrants Trying to Reach US

Other nations, including Mexico, have said they'll stop caravan from Honduras

(Newser) - Guatemalan police and soldiers launched tear gas and wielded batons and shields against a group of Honduran migrants that tried to push through a roadblock Sunday. A group of about 2,000 migrants had stopped short of the roadblock the night before. The roadblock was strategically placed at a chokepoint...

Nation's Congress Building Is Set Ablaze

Protesters oppose budget cuts in Guatemala

(Newser) - Hundreds of protesters broke into Guatemala's Congress and burned part of the building Saturday amid growing demonstrations against President Alejandro Giammattei and the legislature for approving a budget that cut educational and health spending, the AP reports. The protest came as about 7,000 people were demonstrating in front...

Rain From Latest Hurricane Could Measure in Feet, Not Inches

Hurricane Eta threatens flooding in Central America

(Newser) - Hurricane Eta erupted quickly into a potentially catastrophic major hurricane Monday as it headed for Central America, where forecasters warned of massive flooding and landslides across a vulnerable region, the AP reports. Eta was a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150mph late Monday, the US National Hurricane...

Powerful New Hurricane Heads to Central America

Some places could get 25 to 35 inches of rain

(Newser) - Hurricane Eta erupted quickly into a potentially catastrophic major hurricane Monday as it headed for Central America, where forecasters warned of massive flooding and landslides across a vulnerable region. Eta had maximum sustained winds of 120mph and was located about 85 miles east of the Nicaragua-Honduras border, according to the...

Parents Sent Teen to School Knowing He Had COVID
Parents Sent Teen to School
Knowing He Had COVID
the rundown
Sep 18, 2020 1:59 PM CDT

Parents Sent Teen to School Knowing He Had COVID

Now, about 30 students have to quarantine for 2 weeks in Massachusetts

(Newser) - High school students in Attleboro, Mass., returned to school this week with the usual precautions in place for the pandemic. But already, about 30 students have been forced to quarantine for two weeks, though it's not because of a lapse in school protocol. Instead, it's because of what...

The Maya Had Good Reason to Abandon Tikal
The Maya Had Good
Reason to Abandon Tikal
new study
Jul 5, 2020 5:20 PM CDT

The Maya Had Good Reason to Abandon Tikal

Researchers dig deep into the city's reservoirs

(Newser) - Why did the Maya flee the majestic city-state of Tikal? Experts say overpopulation, overexploitation of land, and droughts drove them out in the ninth century AD. Now, another cause: poisoned water. A new study says there's evidence of mercury and toxic algae ruining the drinking water just as residents...

Mexico Breaks Up Migrant Caravan
Mexico Breaks Up
Migrant Caravan
Jan 24, 2020 3:21 AM CST

Mexico Breaks Up Migrant Caravan

800 people were rounded up after crossing border

(Newser) - Eight hundred Central American migrants were rounded up and hauled onto buses by Mexican national guardsmen and immigration agents after crossing into the country early Thursday and walking for hours along a rural highway. The migrants had stopped for the day at a shaded crossroads when hundreds of national guard...

Trump Pact With Honduras 'Seals Off' Central America

Administration signs deal to send asylum seekers to country

(Newser) - The Trump administration signed a deal Wednesday with a third Central American country that would effectively seal off the region, preventing asylum-seekers traveling through from entering the United States, the AP reports. The latest agreement, signed on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, paves the way to send asylum-seekers...

US Siblings' Swim During Guatemala Trip Turns Fatal

Tennessee teen dead, his sister injured after electrical short in hotel pool

(Newser) - A trip to Guatemala turned tragic for a pair of Tennessee siblings Friday when, as they were swimming in their hotel pool, an electrical short occurred, killing one and injuring the other. Seth Washam, 18, who was killed, was slated to attend Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tenn., in the...

She Died at Age 7 in CBP Custody. Now, an Official Cause of Death

Jakelin Caal Maquin died of sepsis from strep bacteria, medical examiner says

(Newser) - When Jakelin Caal Maquin arrived Dec. 6 from Guatemala at the US-Mexico border with her father and more than 100 migrants, her family says she'd eaten well during her journey and wasn't sick. By early Dec. 8, the 7-year-old was dead . Customs and Border Protection, which had taken...

Jewish Sect Kidnapped New York Children: Report

Prosecutors charge 4 in late-night abduction

(Newser) - Extremist sect, meet the FBI. Prosecutors have charged four men allegedly involved in kidnapping two New York state children in order to haul them down to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group in Guatemala, the Journal News reports. Seems Nachman Helbrans, 36, Mayer Rosner, 42, Jacob Rosner, 20—all of Guatemala—coordinated...

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