Indian border officials on lookout for fugitive 'cosmic guru'
Indian border officials and embassies have issued an alert for a fugitive guru accused of rape, the government said, days after the holy man announced the creation of his own "cosmic" country. Swami Nithyananda — one of many self-styled Indian "godmen" with thousands of followers ...
Indigenous protesters hold police after five are killed in Ecuador clashes
Indigenous groups in Ecuador seized eight police officers Thursday amid protests over fuel price hikes that officials said have so far killed five people, including an indigenous leader. The uniformed officers, including a woman, were seized during a tense standoff in Quito and put on ...
Indigenous-led national strike in Ecuador increases pressure on defiant Moreno
Indigenous-led protesters began a national strike in Ecuador on Wednesday after President Lenin Moreno refused to step down or overturn anti-austerity measures that have triggered the worst unrest in a decade. Streets were empty of traffic and businesses were closed in Quito and other cities ...
Ecuador declares state of emergency as end to fuel subsidies brings violent protests
Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno declared a state of emergency on Thursday as protesters hurled stones and erected burning barricades after the end of decades-old fuel subsidies as part of a $2 billion government fiscal reform package. Police responded with tear gas in the worst unrest ...
Personal data leaked for almost entire population of Ecuador
The personal data of almost the entire population of Ecuador has been leaked online, security experts said Monday, in a massive breach the government called a "very delicate" issue. An estimated 17 million people, including almost 7 million minors and children, had their data exposed ...
Peru to boost Ecuador border security after stricter entry rules for Venezuelans
Peru plans to beef up security at its border with Ecuador to prevent illegal immigration, after stricter entry requirements for Venezuelans led to a 90 percent drop in legal crossings, a government official said on Monday. More than 850,000 Venezuelans have fled their homeland for ...
Brazil's neighbors call for meeting and Amazon pact as fires rage
Peru and Colombia called on Tuesday on fellow Amazonian countries to attend a presidential meeting next month on the forest fires raging in Brazil and Bolivia and to forge a pact to protect the world's largest tropical forest. The meeting is scheduled to take place ...
Venezuelan migrants flood into Ecuador from Colombia ahead of new visa curbs
More than 85,000 Venezuelan migrants crossed into Ecuador from Colombia in the last month, ahead of new visa restrictions from Quito that took effect on Monday, the Colombian government said. The number of migrants entering Ecuador at the Rumichaca border crossing reached 11,000 over the ...
Ecuador tribe's victory in legal battle over selling ancestral Amazon land is upheld
A court in Ecuador has upheld a ruling that prevents the government from selling land in the Amazon rainforest to oil companies, a move activists called a historic win for the Waorani indigenous tribe living there. The government had appealed an earlier court ruling in ...
Ecuador denies Galapagos Islands will host U.S. military base
Ecuador President Lenin Moreno insisted Tuesday the United States would not be installing a military base on the Galapagos Islands, a day after the government revealed that American aircraft would be able to use an airstrip there. "There are not, nor will there be, foreign ...
Ecuador's highest court on Wednesday approved same-sex marriage in a landmark ruling in the traditionally Catholic and conservative South American country. The Constitutional Court said same-sex marriage had been approved in a five-to-four vote of its nine judges in a closed hearing. Ecuador, where the church ...
Japanese man jailed for two years in Ecuador for attempt to smuggle insects and spiders to Hokkaido
A 26-year-old Japanese man was sentenced to two years in prison in Ecuador for attempting to smuggle a massive haul of insects and arachnids out of the country, officials said Thursday. The defendant was arrested at Quito airport in March with 248 spiders, cockroaches, wasps, ...
