Patrick Hamilton, ex-AP and Reuters photographer who covered Central American wars, dies at 74
Patrick Hamilton, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War who covered civil wars in Central America as a photojournalist for The Associated Press,and later worked at Reuters covering the first Gulf War in Iraq, has died after a long struggle with cancer.
Presidents of Taiwan, Guatemala visit Mayan pyramid
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and the Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei have toured the archaeological site of Tikal during a trip by Tsai that aims to shore up the self-governing islandโs ties with its remaining allies in Central America.
Caribbean storm likely to gain force, hit Central America
The U.S. National Hurricane Center says a storm that has hurled rain on the southern Caribbean and the northern shoulder of South America is expected to hit Central America as a tropical storm over the weekend and eventually develop into a hurricane over the Pacific.
Corruption in Central America seen as biggest challenge for Vice President Kamala Harris
SAN ANTONIO โ Long-running corruption in Central America will be the biggest challenge confronting Vice President Kamala Harris, said Dr. Betsy Smith, Ph.D, chair of the department of political science at St. Maryโs University and an expert on Democratic crises in Latin America. โWe really have to consider how weโre going to solve the problem when the people who can help us solve the problem are a part of the problem,โ Smith said. President Biden has made Vice President Harris his point person in Central America, the same role he had in the Obama administration during the migrant surges in 2014 and 2015. AdAsking Harris to take on the root causes of the current influx at the border, โmakes a lot of sense,โ Smith said. โThis is really a first chance to show her skills and to show her abilities as the vice president,โ Smith said.
Asylum seekers rush to register for US border processing
Asylum seekers wait for news of policy changes at the border, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)MEXICO CITY โ In the first five days since the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden began to process the thousands of asylum seekers waiting in Mexico, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees registered 12,000 people. Instituted by the Trump administration in January 2019, the program sought to discourage asylum seekers by making them wait in Mexico rather than releasing them with orders to appear for future court dates in the U.S. AdOn Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it would begin processing asylum seekers with registered cases who have been living in a tent encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande in Matamoros, Mexico. Last week, the U.S. government began processing a small number of asylum seekers with active cases in San Diego.
Birth on a riverbank: Woman's ordeal shows risks at border
Merรญn gave birth to her daughter next to the Rio Grande, attended to by two Border Patrol agents, showing how lives routinely end up at risk at the U.S.-Mexico border. Mother and child were hospitalized for three days, then processed at a Border Patrol station before being released to Catholic Charities. โThereโs so many women in great danger,โ said Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. The Border Patrol blames smugglers for using people in medical distress as decoys, drawing attention from others trying to sneak into the country. The Border Patrol defends how it treats immigrants and the medical care they receive.
Federal judge blocks new criminal disqualifiers to asylum
A judge on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020 has blocked a Trump administration rule that would have put up new roadblocks for asylum-seekers convicted of a variety of crimes. The federal judge in San Francisco says current federal law already includes plenty of disqualifying crimes such as drug trafficking, money laundering and counterfeiting. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio, File)LOS ANGELES โ A federal judge on Thursday blocked a Trump administration rule about to take effect that would have put up new roadblocks for asylum-seekers convicted of a variety of crimes. The rule would have also denied asylum to people convicted of crimes that an adjudicator โknows or has reason to believeโ was committed to supporting a criminal street gang. Asylum is for people fleeing persecution for their race, religion, nationality, political beliefs or membership in a social group.
Dangerous Hurricane Iota makes landfall on Nicaragua coast
Locals move on street barely cleared from the debris of the last storm, before Hurricane Iota makes landfall in La Lima, Honduras, Monday, November 16, 2020. Hurricane Iota rapidly strengthened Monday into a Category 5 storm that is likely to bring catastrophic damage to the same part of Central America already battered by a powerful Hurricane Eta less than two weeks ago. (AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)MANAGUA โ Powerful Hurricane Iota made landfall on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast late Monday, threatening catastrophic damage to the same part of Central America already battered by equally strong Hurricane Eta less than two weeks ago. Iota already had been hitting the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras with torrential rains and strong winds. Iota came ashore just 15 miles (25 kilometers) south of where Hurricane Eta made landfall Nov. 3, also as a Category 4 storm.
Hurricane Iota heads for already battered Central America
Iota became a Category 2 hurricane late Sunday afternoon, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center warned it would likely be an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm when it approached the Central America mainland late Monday. It was already a record-breaking system, being the 30th named storm of this yearโs extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. It hit Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane, killing at least 120 people as torrential rains caused flash floods and mudslides in parts of Central America and Mexico. Eta was the 28th named storm of this yearโs hurricane season, tying the 2005 record for named storms. The official end of hurricane season is Nov. 30.
Iota Dissipates Over Central America
The remnants are moving toward the west near 12 mph (19 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue today. Maximum sustained winds are near 30 mph (45 km/h) with higher gusts. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1006 mb (29.71 inches). Portions of Nicaragua and El Salvador: 2 to 4 inches (50 to 100 mm), with isolated maximum totals of 6 inches (150 mm). SURF: Swells generated by Iota will affect much of the coast of Central America and the Yucatan Peninsula during the next day or so.
Tropical Storm Iota forms, could follow Eta's deadly path
Hurricane experts were closely watching the Caribbean, where Tropical Storm Iota formed Friday afternoon. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Iota could bring dangerous wind, storm surge and as much as 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rainfall to northern Nicaragua and Honduras. The storm was located about 350 miles (560 kilometers) south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica and had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph). Iota is a record-setting 30th named storm of this yearโs extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. Earlier, firefighters in Tampa had to rescue around a dozen people who got stuck in storm surge flooding on a boulevard adjacent to the bay.
British queen offers condolences to Eta storm victims
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II stands on the balcolny of the Foreign Office, during the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph, in Whitehall, London, Sunday Nov. 8, 2020. (Aaron Chown/Pool Photo via AP)LONDON โ Queen Elizabeth II on Monday sent her condolences to people in Mexico and Central America affected by โthe tragic loss of life and destructionโ caused by the devastating storm Eta. In a message to leaders in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, the queen lamented the destruction caused by the storm. โPrince Philip and I were deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life,'' caused by the storm, the queen's message said. Official death tolls put the number of dead at least 68 people, but hundreds more are missing.
Eta strikes Florida Keys; expected to become hurricane
A strengthening Tropical Storm Eta cut across Cuba on Sunday, and forecasters say it's likely to be a hurricane before hitting the Florida Keys Sunday night or Monday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami declared hurricane and storm surge warnings for the Keys from Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas, including Florida Bay. Several shelters also opened in Miami and the Florida Keys for residents in mobile homes and low lying areas. On Sunday night, authorities in Lauderhill, Florida, responded to a report of a car that had driven into a canal. South Florida started emptying ports and a small number of shelters opened in Miami and the Florida Keys for residents in mobile homes and low-lying areas.
Guatemala searches, Eta regains storm status, heads to Cuba
Members of search and recovery teams search for survivors in the debris of a massive, rain-fueled landslide in the village of Queja, in Guatemala, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020, in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Eta. The storm was expected to hit Cuba by early Sunday, and approach the Florida Keys and south Florida late Sunday or Monday. Tropical storm warnings were issued for central Cuba, southern Florida and the Florida Keys. South Florida started emptying ports and a small number of shelters opened in Miami and the Florida Keys for residents in mobile homes and low lying areas. The stormsโ threat comes as many streets across South Florida have been inundated by heavy rains and unusual King Tides.
Guatemala digs through landslide where 100 believed buried
A barefooted woman makes her way around debris brought on by a landslide on a road blocking traffic, in the aftermath of Hurricane Eta, in Purulha, northern Guatemala Friday, Nov. 6, 2020. In a news conference, President Alejandro Giammattei said he believed there were at least 100 dead there in San Cristobal Verapaz, but noted that was still unconfirmed. Her home in La Lima, a San Pedro Sula suburb, is 150 feet from the roiling Chamelecon river and only a short way from the international airportโs runway. It said rescues were happening Friday in San Pedro Sula and La Lima, but the need was great and resources limited. The U.S. State Department said in a statement Friday that four U.S. helicopters from the Soto Cano Air Base near Tegucigalpa had flown to San Pedro Sula to participate in rescue operations.
Weakened Eta drenches Central America; at least 57 dead
A pregnant woman is carried out of an area flooded by water brought by Hurricane Eta in Planeta, Honduras, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)TEGUCIGALPA โ The rain-heavy remnants of Hurricane Eta flooded homes from Panama to Guatemala Thursday as the death toll across Central America rose to at least 57, and aid organizations warned the flooding and mudslides were creating a slow-moving humanitarian disaster across the region. Eta had sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph) and was moving north at 8 mph (13 kph) Thursday. When whatโs left of the storm wobbles back into the Caribbean it will regain some strength and become a tropical storm again, forecasts show. โWhatever comes out (of Central America) is going to linger awhile,โ said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
Cat 4 Hurricane Eta threatens flooding in Central America
MEXICO CITY โ 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 was a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 kph) late Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. It was centered about 45 miles (75 kilometers) east of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and moving west-southwest at 7 mph (11 kph). Eta tripled in strength in about 24 hours, rapidly intensifying from a 40 mph (65 kph) storm Sunday morning to a 120 mph (190 kph) hurricane around midday Monday, and continued gain power throughout the rest of the day. Hurricane season still has a month to go, ending Nov. 30.
Report: US knew of problems family separation would cause
Documents in the report suggest Health and Human Services officials weren't told by the Department of Homeland Security why shelters were receiving more children taken from their parents in late 2017. Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee released the report Thursday with emails obtained from government agencies. The report outlines discussions since the start of the Trump administration of family separation as a law enforcement tactic. Documents in the new report suggest CBP did not communicate with HHS about why shelters were receiving more separated children. The email notes โthe increase in referralsโ of children unaccompanied by a parent โresulting from separation of children from parents.โ White sent McAleenan a chart of all the children HHS had received.
Final debate could thrust foreign policy back into campaign
Biden's foreign policy credentials have largely been overshadowed by questions about how he would lead the U.S. through the worst pandemic in a century. But the issue could reemerge Thursday as Trump and Biden take the stage for a final debate, with a topic list including national security. But, Biden said, the president still has โno coherent plan for foreign policyโ beyond โAmerica alone.โTrump counters that โAmerica Firstโ is more than sloganeering. Yet heading into the final debate, Trump's loudest foreign policy pitch isn't about his record. Once the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden hails from the bipartisan establishment that shaped U.S. international policy from World War II's end until Trump's election.
Tropical Storm Cristobal advances toward US Gulf Coast
MIAMI A re-energized Tropical Storm Cristobal advanced toward the U.S. Gulf Coast early Saturday, bringing with it the heavy rains that already caused flooding and mudslides in Mexico and Central America. After weakening to a tropical depression while moving over land in Mexico's Gulf coast, Cristobal headed back into the southern Gulf of Mexico from the Yucatan Peninsula on Friday and powered back up into a tropical storm. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its 7 a.m. advisory Saturday that the storm was expected to slowly strengthen until it makes landfall, expected Sunday night along the U.S. Gulf Coast. A tropical storm watch was posted for the northern Gulf of Mexico coast from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to the Alabama-Florida border. Cristobal formed this week in the Bay of Campeche from the remnants of Tropical Storm Amanda, which had sprung up last weekend in the eastern Pacific and hit Central America.