Tropical Storm Alberto hits Mexico, kills 3
The first named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Alberto, hit northeastern Mexico early this morning. The storm’s sustained winds reached 50 mph, reportedly bringing torrential rainfall and coastal flooding. The coastal Mexican state of Tamaulipas has received the brunt of the impact, but it has also affected other Mexican states, most notably Nuevo León, as well as the US states of Texas and Louisiana.
At least 3 have died, including “a 15-year-old boy who was swept away by the current of a river and drowned outside the city of Monterrey, Mexico's third biggest, in Nuevo Leon state,” according to Reuters.
Ironically, some have viewed the storm as a positive. “The storm also brought hope to a region suffering under a prolonged, severe drought,” reports AP, noting “that the state’s reservoirs were low and Mexico owed the United States a massive water debt in their shared use of the Rio Grande.” The region has also been facing a “killer heat wave” due to climate change, AP reported in a separate article.
BBC notes that this North Atlantic hurricane season, between June and November, could receive “as many as seven major hurricanes… That would be more than double the usual number.” Tropical Storm Alberto did not qualify as a hurricane due to insufficient wind speeds, per Reuters.
Peru
10 Peruvian soldiers have been found guilty “of crimes against humanity for rapes committed four decades ago during Peru’s civil war,” reports The Guardian, saying that this is the first case of its kind in relation to Peru’s conflict with the Shining Path: “A registry of victims of Peru’s conflict held by the justice ministry records more than 5,300 rape survivors. The country’s truth and reconciliation commission, whose final report detailed human rights abuses committed by both sides, found state agents, notably the armed forces, to be responsible for 83% of cases of sexual violence.”
Chile
“At least two people were killed and nine others injured Thursday when a train full of passengers collided head-on with another train on a test run just outside the capital of Chile,” reports AP.
Ecuador
Ecuador faced a nationwide electricity outage yesterday, reports The Guardian. The acting energy minister says the outage “was due to a lack of investment in transmission that could have been avoided.”
“Since last year, Ecuador has faced an electricity generation crisis that has led to rationing throughout the country. In April, the government of President Daniel Noboa began to ration electricity in the country’s main cities as a drought linked to the El Niño weather pattern depleted reservoirs and limited output at hydroelectric plants that produce about 75% of the nation’s power,” adds AP.
Mexico
“The US has accused a Chinese "underground banking" network of helping Mexico's powerful Sinaloa drugs cartel with money laundering and other crimes,” reports BBC.
“Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday that he would ask the country's foreign minister to speak with the U.S. ambassador to the country to restart U.S. imports of Mexican avocados. The U.S. suspended inspections of avocados last week due to a safety incident in the Mexican state of Michoacan,” explains Reuters.
Colombia
“The attempted assassination of family members of Colombia’s vice president underscores the deteriorating situation in the southwest of the country and puts at further risk an already faltering peace plan with the major group in the area,” reports InSight Crime, noting, “Cauca and Valle del Cauca play crucial roles in the drug trade as principal coca-growing regions, housing cocaine production laboratories and serving as departure points for drugs.”
One Colombian family’s genes appear to provide protection against Alzheimer’s, and “already some very early work is beginning to explore if certain treatments might induce the protective mutation,” reports AP.
Honduras
The Honduran state of Intibucá is “renowned for its Indigenous culture – and sky-high alcohol-related death rate,” says The Guardian, highlighting initiatives to combat alcoholism and a reportedly ineffective prohibition effort.
Brazil
Brazil is looking to build a rare earths industry, boasting the world's third-largest rare earth reserves, according to Reuters.