International
The regional director of UN Women hopes that the gender agenda in A will not go back. Latina
The new right-wing governments in Latin America have made a political handling of the gender agenda, but have not yet managed to make setbacks in access to basic rights for women, María Noel Baeza, regional director for the Americas and the Caribbean of UN Women, told EFE on Thursday.
“There are many screams, there are many political uses of the gender agenda, but I do not see yet – and I hope not to see it -, that legislative setback,” he said in an interview during a visit to Guadalajara (western Mexico).
He recalled that there have been effects on public policies in countries such as Argentina, with the government of Javier Milei, who eliminated the Ministry of Women and threw back the adolescent pregnancy prevention program, but at the legislative level this and other governments have not been able to close rights already achieved.
The UN official said that there is an organized force of women who are fighting from different countries to resist this rise of conservative sectors.
“As long as the legislative powers do not begin to change the laws, there it would be… there they find us (women) organized and in the street, activists. I hope that doesn’t come, because luckily governments last four years, so that’s changing,” he warned.
Noel Baeza pointed out that in the region there is an interest in advancing issues such as violence, sexual and reproductive rights, access to public and business governance spaces, to respond to the Beijing Platform for Action that 30 years ago laid the foundations for gender equality in the world.
He recalled that through reports managed by the Secretariat of the UN Commission on the Legal and Economic Status of Women, 160 countries are making progress in the challenges posed in terms of education, work or the eradication of violence.
“It was massive, it was impressive. No one wanted to be left behind in reporting, and positively reporting what they are doing. Which translates into positive votes, and is a very important indication that they are moving forward,” he said.
Noel Baeza participates in the VII Ibero-American Summit of Local Gender Agendas and the XV Ibero-American Congress of Municipalists that takes place in Guadalajara until May 30.
The representative of UN Women referred to the fact that Mexico has a president for the first time as an opportunity for there to be substantive changes in public policies focused on girls, adolescents and adults.
“When women enter politics, politics change. That is a very, very very said phrase many times, but it is true. A woman who is in politics begins by changing the reality of what equality means,” he said.
She praised the efforts of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to put women’s rights as a central part not only in public policies, but with budget and concrete actions, which profiles her as a leader in the region.
“All the women in the region are looking at Mexico and we are looking at her to support her in what we can. I think she will try to pay off that debt and of course the most difficult thing will be cultural change to avoid violence,” he concluded.
International
Three U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 U.S. states, while three others —California, Oregon and Pennsylvania— currently have moratoriums in place.
The United States is set to carry out three executions on the same day, a rare occurrence that has not happened since 2010, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
President Donald Trump has sought to expand the use of capital punishment for what he describes as “the most heinous crimes.” In April, the Department of Justice proposed expanding execution methods to include firing squads, lethal gas and electrocution.
Tennessee is scheduled to execute Anthony Darrell Dugard Hines, 66, on Thursday. He was sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of a woman, according to local media.
In Oklahoma, Carlos Cuesta-Rodríguez, 70, is scheduled to be executed for a 2003 murder.
Meanwhile, Alabama plans to execute Jeremy Williams, 42, who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl.
The United States carried out 47 executions in 2025, the highest number since 2009, when 52 executions were recorded.
Florida conducted the largest number of executions last year, with 19, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, with five each.
Of the executions carried out in 2025, 39 were conducted by lethal injection. Three were carried out by firing squad and five through nitrogen hypoxia, a method that involves forcing nitrogen gas into a face mask, depriving the prisoner of oxygen.
The United Nations has condemned nitrogen gas as a cruel and inhumane method of capital punishment.
International
Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Reaches 265 as Rescue Teams Race Against Time
The 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Colombia on Monday, the strongest to hit the country this century, has so far left 265 people dead and around 3,500 injured.
In Cali, Pereira and other cities in western Colombia, rescue teams are working around the clock as they search for survivors. The first 72 hours following the earthquake will be reached at 7:34 a.m. local time (12:34 GMT), a critical window for rescue efforts as the chances of finding survivors generally decline significantly after that point.
Among those anxiously awaiting news is Valeria Cardona, a 26-year-old student searching for two of her cousins in Cali.
“We have some suspicions about their location, but there are no signs of life,” she said. “Hope is the last thing you lose, but we are anxious about receiving news we don’t want to hear.”
A team of members from the Topos Aztecas, the renowned Mexican volunteer rescue group, has also arrived in Cali to join the search. The rescuers had been working in neighboring Venezuela, where a double earthquake on June 24 left more than 6,000 people dead.
“We all came from Venezuela, from La Guaira. The 41 days we spent working there made us stronger because we overcame hunger, pain and sleepless nights,” said Héctor Méndez, 80, president of Topos Aztecas.
Méndez encouraged those affected by the disaster not to lose hope and emphasized the commitment required from rescue teams during an emergency.
“Do not feel like victims. This is not an office or workshop schedule. This is real life, where the best part of the human spirit emerges. These are things of nature that happen,” he said.
International
German Authorities Investigate More Than 100 New Cases Against Convicted Nurse
German authorities announced Monday that they are investigating more than 100 additional cases involving a nurse who was sentenced to life in prison in November for the murder of 10 patients.
The man, who was 44 at the time of his conviction, worked in palliative care at a hospital in Würselen, near Aachen. He was also found guilty of 27 attempted murders.
Aachen prosecutors are now examining 121 new cases, a spokesperson for the office said.
Prosecutors leading the investigation are preparing a new indictment that could be filed next year. Nearly 40 bodies have so far been exhumed as part of the investigation, which covers alleged incidents dating back to September 2022.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in the city of Cologne are investigating 18 additional cases. According to a spokesperson, the oldest case dates back to 2010.
Before working at the Würselen hospital, the nurse is believed to have worked at a clinic in eastern Cologne, according to local media reports.
At the time of his November conviction, the court ruled that the severity of his crimes was particularly serious, a finding that would make it difficult for him to obtain early release after 15 years in prison.
Between December 2023 and May 2024, the nurse administered overdoses of sedatives or painkillers to terminally ill patients, most of them elderly, according to the indictment in the original case.
His alleged motive was to sedate patients who required care so that he could minimize his workload during night shifts, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, the nurse worked «without enthusiasm» and «without motivation». When faced with patients requiring extensive care, he allegedly became «irritated» and showed a lack of empathy.
The case has revived painful memories in Germany of Niels Högel, a former nurse and serial killer who was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2019 for the murders of at least 85 patients.
Three U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty
Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Reaches 265 as Rescue Teams Race Against Time
German Authorities Investigate More Than 100 New Cases Against Convicted Nurse
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