International
First wild jaguars in 70 years born in Argentina national park
AFP
A captive-born jaguar released into Argentina’s Ibera National Park last year has given birth to two cubs — the first to be born wild in the protected wetland in 70 years, the Rewilding Argentina conservation body said Thursday.
A hidden camera confirmed keepers’ suspicions of the happy event, showing the mother jaguar caring for her offspring, said Magali Longo, coordinator of the foundation’s Jaguar Reintroduction Center (CRY).
“The mating of free jaguars and the birth of a new generation in freedom is excellent news for the project that seeks to halt the extinction of this species,” Rewilding Argentina said in a statement.
It also raised hopes of “regenerating a healthy population of jaguars” in the region that was once their natural home.
The cubs are the offspring of Arami, born at the CRY in 2018 and released into the protected park last September, and Jatobazinho, a male rescued in Brazil, donated to the Argentine project in 2019 and released into the park in December.
They were among eight jaguars released into the Ibera park last year, where the live like their wild ancestors: hunting capybaras, wild pigs and deer.
“If both cubs survive — something we should know in the coming weeks — the jaguar population of Ibera will rise to 10,” said Sebastian Di Martino, the foundation’s conservation director.
This was significant, he added, considering that only about 15 jaguars are known to exist in the Chaco ecoregion that includes the park.
The CRY breeding and rehabilitation center has operated for ten years in Argentina’s Corrientes province, where the jaguar went locally extinct 70 years ago.
It is estimated that between 200 and 300 jaguars remain in Argentina.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction