Latin America

Bruno Guimaraes looks set to move to Premier League champions Arsenal, but Newcastle say they did not want to sell.

Newcastle United did ‌not want to sell captain Bruno Guimaraes, sporting director Ross ⁠Wilson has said, after reports linked the Brazil midfielder with a move to Arsenal.

British media reported on Wednesday that Arsenal had ⁠agreed a deal worth 75 million pounds ($101m) for the 28-year-old. Neither club has confirmed the reported transfer.

“We didn’t want to sell Bruno. It wasn’t in the plan to sell Bruno. None of us – or ownership – wanted to sell Bruno,” Wilson told reporters at Newcastle’s preseason training camp in Spain.

“He’s our captain, he ‌was very important to us, and the debate over his price – it’s a world-record fee for a player of his age.

“What we had to weigh up was, very respectfully from Bruno with his behaviour towards us, very emotionally as well, effectively told us he wanted to leave and move on.”

Guimaraes, who joined Newcastle from French ⁠side Olympique Lyonnais in January 2022, has made ⁠195 appearances in all competitions and scored 31 goals for the Premier League club.

He captained Newcastle to League Cup glory in 2025, ending the club’s long wait for domestic ⁠silverware.

“There’s no part in saying (the transfer) was part of our strategy and was in our thinking ⁠this summer – it wasn’t. But we have ⁠got to be flexible and react to things that happen,” Wilson said.

“It might have been in our plan to sign one player, but we didn’t get him so we move ‌on to another. We can only be honest about that.”

Guimaraes’s exit would be another setback for Newcastle following the departures of Anthony Gordon, ‌Sandro ‌Tonali and manager Eddie Howe.

Newcastle begin their Premier League campaign against Liverpool on August 23.

Retirement rumours surrounded Lionel Messi at last two World Cups, but Argentina FA chief says decision will be his.

Especially after witnessing what Lionel Messi ‌was still capable of at this summer’s World Cup, the president of the Argentine ⁠Football Association is ⁠not rushing the all-time great out the door.

Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia said in an interview on Argentinian TV that Messi is the only person making the decision on when to ⁠hang up his boots.

“It’s a decision that is purely and personally his,” Tapia said. “You have to let him relax. In 2022, we didn’t know if ⁠he’d play in 2026. He said it was game by game, and I think we’ve seen a great version – if not the best – of Leo in a World Cup.

“You have to let him keep enjoying playing football and after that he’ll make the decision he feels is the right ‌one.”

Messi, who turned 39 on June 24 – two days after scoring a brace against Austria in World Cup group-stage play – has given no indication when he might retire from international football or how much longer he intends to play for Inter Miami in the MLS.

As Tapia pointed out, the 2026 tournament was no guarantee after Messi led Argentina to the 2022 title over France in Qatar. Messi, however, played some of his best football ⁠this summer, compiling eight goals and four assists for La Albiceleste.

Argentina lost ⁠1-0 to Spain in extra time in the World Cup final last month in the United States.

Messi became the first person to break Miroslav Klose’s career scoring record of 16 goals; French superstar Kylian Mbappe ended the tournament ⁠with 22 goals to pass Messi by one.

“It was a great World Cup from Leo,” Tapia said. “We enjoyed it a lot, and we’ve ⁠got to feel proud. I enjoyed every moment. Without ⁠a doubt, he was the standard-bearer of this group in the World Cup.

“If you analyse the World Cup he had, for me he was the best player. He was break records match after match.”

Messi would turn 43 during the 2030 World Cup to be held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay also will host one match apiece as part of the centennial celebration.

The oldest non-goalkeeper to ‌appear ‌in a World Cup match was Cameroonian forward Roger Milla at 42 years and 39 days old, according to FIFA.

Another all-time great, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, suited up this summer at age 41.

Argentina are set to play their next matches in the international window between September 21-29. No opponent has been announced for the likely two friendlies that will be played.

There has been speculation that the next home game for the Argentinians could be Messi’s last.

As Copa America champions, Argentina will defend their 2024 crown in 2028, but no host nation has yet been announced for the continental competition.

The rulings allow the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for nationals of the two countries.

Two federal judges have cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s administration to end temporary protections from deportation for people who have come to the United States from South Sudan and Myanmar.

Judges in Boston, Massachusetts and Chicago, Illinois on Friday rejected last-ditch efforts by immigrant-rights advocates to maintain the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for the two countries after the US Supreme Court in June allowed the administration to end similar protections for thousands of people from Haiti and Syria.

TPS shields people from deportation and grants work authorisation when their home countries are affected by armed conflict, natural disasters or other extraordinary conditions. The terminations would end protections for about 232 South Sudanese nationals and roughly 4,000 people from Myanmar, according to the Reuters news agency.

The Supreme Court decision had limited lower courts’ ability to block the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) efforts to end TPS for people from roughly a dozen countries, arguing the executive branch maintained broad authority to make decisions on the programme.

After the Supreme Court’s ruling, immigrant-rights lawyers made a new challenge, arguing that DHS lacked the authority to terminate TPS.

But US District Judge Patti Saris in Boston rejected the argument, saying it would not only call into question DHS authority to end TPS but also its longstanding authority to extend the protections.

Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago made a similar conclusion in the Myanmar case hours later.

Advocates have warned the rulings leave TPS recipients, who had been given an “administrative stay” amid the ongoing legal battle that allowed them to continue to work and live in the US, exposed to possible deportation to countries still gripped by conflict and instability.

DHS had moved in November 2025 to end TPS for South Sudan, which has held the designation since 2011 amid ongoing conflict, and Myanmar, in political turmoil since a 2021 military coup.

James Percival, General Counsel of DHS, said the new rulings leave only TPS terminations for Ethiopian and Somalian nationals, which are still blocked by courts.

“Every day these ‘administrative stays’ are in effect is a day the American people are denied what they voted for,” he wrote on X.

New president, who replaces leftist Gustavo Petro, continues rightward political shift in Latin America.

Right-wing lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella has been sworn in as Colombia‘s president after winning a run-off election on promises to crack down on the armed groups, cut government spending by as much as 40 percent, and revive the South American country’s oil and gas industry.

De la Espriella, 48, took the oath of office on Friday, breaking with tradition by holding the ceremony not in the capital, Bogota, but in Cali, a city in Colombia’s volatile southwest that has long borne the brunt of the government’s conflict with armed groups.

The choice signaled a decisive break from the strategy of negotiated peace with those groups pursued by outgoing leftist leader Gustavo Petro, whom de la Espriella defeated in June’s runoff. De La Espriella has dismissed Petro’s policy as a failure.

“There will be no room for maneuvers that undermine the stability of the nation,” de la Espriella said on Friday, as he pledged to “relentlessly defeat narco-terrorism”.

He added that “the option of dialogue is completely exhausted”.

A political newcomer known to supporters as “El Tigre”, The Tiger, de la Espriella built his fortune and public profile as a lawyer and businessman rather than through elected office, largely self-financing his campaign as an outsider candidate.

His arrival in power marks a sharp ideological reversal for a country that, for the past four years, was led by a former rebel fighter who was frequently critical of the drug and immigration policies of United States President Donald Trump.

De la Espriella has, in contrast, hewed closed to Trump and his militaristic approach to drug crime in Latin America.

Security dominated Friday’s ceremony, which was held at a university auditorium before Congress. Soldiers and armoured vehicles lined roads near the venue, and police manned checkpoints screening vehicles for explosives in the preceding days.

After the ceremony, de la Espriella travelled to a nearby military battalion to address troops directly, framing the visit as both a morale boost for the armed forces and a signal to the country’s armed groups of the approach he plans to take.

Colombia’s southwest remains contested territory for dissident factions of the demobilised FARC rebel movement who rejected the peace deal signed a decade ago. The Clan del Golfo drug cartel, and the National Liberation Army, or ELN guerrilla group are also active in the area.

The new president has also pledged to join the so-called “Shield of the Americas”, a US-backed regional coalition against drug trafficking that grew out of a summit hosted by the Trump administration in March. He has vowed to restored diplomatic relations with Israel and sever ties with Cuba and Nicaragua, branding them “tyrannies”.

Petro had initially refused to accept the election result, alleging that vote tallies had been manipulated. The claim was dismissed by international observers and Colombia’s own electoral authorities. Petro ultimately conceded he would respect the outcome.

Still protests broke out in Cali, Bogota and Barranquilla on inauguration day.

In Cali’s Puerto Resistencia neighbourhood, once the epicentre of mass anti-government demonstrations in 2021, 25-year-old protester Sebastian Ocampo said residents were “defending dignity” against a president he said had not won their support.

De la Espriella’s win extends a run of electoral victories by conservatives across Latin America, with seven elected since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025. That includes Peru’s Keiko Fujimori, Jose Antonio Kast in Chile, and Argentina’s Javier Milei.

Trump personally endorsed de la Espriella’s campaign.

Leaders in attendance at Friday’s event included Spain’s King Felipe VI, acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and several of Latin America’s other conservative leaders, including Milei and Kast.

Mexico deployed more than 1,500 troops to its main avocado-producing state after the US suspended export inspections over security concerns. The halt has frozen shipments to Mexico’s biggest market, threatening thousands of jobs and a multibillion-dollar industry.

Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo reports from Buenos Aires, where police fired tear gas as thousands protested against a private property bill. Opponents fear it will lead to foreigners owning too much land, while the Milei government says the law would attract investment.

Al Jazeera’s Nils Adler @nilsadler1 reports on how far-right ‘Active Clubs’ use fitness and camaraderie to recruit young white men while masking extremist ideology. Experts warn the decentralized groups are preparing members for real-world violence.

The 26-year-old Brazil international had been linked with a move to English champions Arsenal.

Real Madrid have secured ⁠the ⁠future of Brazilian winger Vinicius Jr, extending his contract until ⁠June 2032, the Spanish giants announced, ⁠bringing an end to months of speculation over his future.

The 26-year-old Brazil international has been ‌a central figure in Real’s attack in recent seasons and had been linked with a move to English champions Arsenal.

His previous contract was ⁠due to expire in ⁠June 2027.

“Real Madrid and Vinicius Jr have agreed to extend our player’s ⁠contract, which now keeps him with the ⁠club through June ⁠30, 2032,” Real said in a statement on Thursday.

“Vinicius has become one of the most ‌important players during one of the most successful periods in ‌our history.”

Since joining from Brazilian club Flamengo in 2018, Vinicius has scored 128 goals and registered 100 assists for Real.

Spanish and British media had reported prolonged contract negotiations between the player and the club, while Arsenal were said to be monitoring the situation and exploring a potential move.

The extension removes the prospect of Real losing one of their most valuable players ⁠on a free transfer.

Vinicius also had a demanding summer with ⁠Brazil at the World Cup, where they were eliminated by Norway in the last 16.

The forward has built an impressive trophy collection during his time in Madrid, winning two Champions League titles and three ⁠La Liga crowns among numerous other honours.

He is set to work under Jose Mourinho for the first time after the Portuguese ⁠coach returned for a second spell in charge ⁠at Real in June.

The appointment followed a disappointing campaign for the record 15-time European champions, who finished runners-up to archrivals Barcelona in La Liga, exited the Champions League in the quarterfinals and ended the season ‌without a major trophy.

Tying down Vinicius represents another significant step in an active transfer window for Real.

The club have also strengthened their squad with the arrivals of winger Yan ‌Diomande, ‌midfielder Bernardo Silva, centre-back Ibrahima Konate, left-back Marc Cucurella and wing-back Denzel Dumfries ahead of the new season.

Presidents of Argentina, Paraguay, Chile and Ecuador, along with Spain’s King Felipe VI, are expected to attend Friday’s ceremony.

Colombia’s outgoing defence minister has warned of a heightened risk of “terrorism” ahead of Friday’s inauguration of President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella.

Minister of Defence Pedro Sanchez told radio station La FM on Wednesday that authorities were tracking a “threat” against Friday’s proceedings. “Most likely, these criminals would attempt to disrupt this democratic event with acts of terrorism,” he said.

The handover of the presidency will take place in the region of Cali in Colombia’s southwest, which has recently seen a series of militia attacks.

De la Espriella, 48, who narrowly won the June presidential run-off, had asked Congress to move the event from the capital, Bogota, to the country’s third-largest city despite its proximity to areas under the control of rebel groups.

Several foreign leaders, including the presidents of Argentina, Paraguay, Chile and Ecuador, along with Spain’s King Felipe VI, are expected to attend the inauguration ceremony.

To secure the event, Colombia’s military is deploying roughly 11,000 troops and has imposed a no-fly zone on drones over Cali and its surroundings. Rebel fighters have previously used drones to drop explosives.

In the department of Cauca, near Cali, a dissident faction of the FARC armed group operates under the command of Ivan Mordisco, the alias of Colombia’s most wanted rebel leader.

The hard-right de la Espriella campaigned on dismantling outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” negotiation strategy with armed groups.

Petro has disputed the election result and said he will not attend Friday’s ceremony.

24-year-old TikToker Cesar Gastelum, was shot dead while livestreaming with friends outside a fast-food restaurant in Culiacan, Mexico. The city is at the centre of a gang turf war between two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.

The announcement comes as Lula warns of foreign interference and polls show a tightening presidential race.

Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has named conservative Congressman Alfredo Gaspar as his running mate, ending weeks of speculation over who would join his presidential ticket in October’s election against incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The announcement on Wednesday also highlighted the challenges facing Bolsonaro’s campaign, which has struggled to build alliances beyond his own Liberal Party and failed in an effort to recruit a woman to the ticket in hopes of broadening its appeal.

Gaspar, 55, has represented the northeastern state of Alagoas in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies since 2023 and served as its public security secretary.

Accepting the nomination, he described himself as “a simple person from the northeast” whose life had been defined by “hard work and honour”, saying he would work alongside Bolsonaro “to transform Brazil into a fair and decent place”.

Gaspar led a congressional investigation into Brazil’s National Social Security Institute (INSS), the agency that oversees the country’s public pension and social security system. Fabio Luis Lula da Silva, the president’s son, is under investigation over allegations that he received improper payments linked to an alleged pension fraud scheme involving that agency.

Political analyst Lucas de Aragao, a partner at consultancy Arko Advice, said the choice was surprising but gave Bolsonaro someone well-placed to attack Lula on an issue that has become politically sensitive.

“He has the authority to deal with an issue that is uncomfortable for Lula. He also speaks extensively about public security,” Aragao said.

Gaspar emerged as the Liberal Party’s preferred choice after several higher-profile figures courted by Bolsonaro, including Senator Tereza Cristina of the Progressive Party and former Caixa Economica Federal chief Daniella Marques of the Republicanos, failed to get their own parties to support them in joining the ticket.

Bolsonaro, the son of former far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, has struggled to expand his coalition, with several centre-right parties choosing to either back Lula’s broader coalition or remain neutral in the election in hopes of maximising their representation in Congress and appealing to anti-Bolsonaro voters in the country’s northeast.

A Quaest survey published on Wednesday found Lula leading Bolsonaro 44 percent to 39 percent in a simulated run-off, down from an eight-point lead in mid-July. In a first-round scenario, Lula was on 39 percent support to Bolsonaro’s 30 percent. If no candidate wins more than half the valid votes in the first round, the top two candidates advance to a run-off.

Launching his re-election campaign on Sunday, Lula cast the October vote as a battle to defend Brazil’s sovereignty amid growing concerns over foreign influence.

“Too many people are poking their fingers into our business. Too many people are interfering in our land. And that is going to stop,” he told supporters.

In July, Brazil denied visas to two US State Department officials who Lula said were being sent to “meddle” in the elections.

The diplomatic rift deepened on Tuesday, when the Trump administration said it was temporarily revoking the visa of Brazil’s ambassador to Washington in response to Brasilia withholding approval for Trump’s ambassadorial nominee.

Lula has pointed to those tensions, along with Trump’s public support for Flavio Bolsonaro and US tariffs imposed on Brazilian goods, as evidence that Brazil’s sovereignty is under pressure.

“As long as I’m president, no one from outside will interfere in Brazilian elections,” Lula said on Wednesday.

The pontiff’s first Latin America trip will take him back to Peru, where he spent decades as a missionary and bishop.

Pope Leo XIV will return to the region that shaped much of his ministry, making his first trip to Latin America as head of the Catholic Church in November.

The Vatican announced on Wednesday that Leo will travel to the three South American countries — Uruguay, Argentina and Peru — from November 6 to 17.

Pope Leo’s stop in Peru is especially significant. He spent decades, on and off, in the Andean country, first as a missionary and later as a bishop for the Diocese of Chiclayo in northern Peru.

The trip will also mark the first papal visit to Argentina and Uruguay in nearly 40 years.

The itinerary includes stops in the cities of Montevideo, Paysandu and Florida in Uruguay from November 6 to 8; Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Lujan in Argentina from November 8 to 11; and Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco and Pucallpa in Peru from November 11 to 17. More details about the pope’s itinerary will be released closer to the trip.

Pope Leo’s return to Chiclayo is likely to be one of the most emotional moments of the tour.

Although born in Chicago, Pope Leo first arrived in Peru in 1985 at age 30. Over the next three decades, he moved between the United States and Peru as a missionary.

In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him to the Diocese of Chiclayo. He became a Peruvian citizen the following year and led the diocese until 2023.

Upon his election as pope in 2025, he thanked the diocese in his inaugural address — and the city embraced him as the first “papa chiclayano”, the first pope from Chiclayo. Thousands of people gathered in Chiclayo’s main square to celebrate the results of the papal conclave.

The Argentina leg of the visit is also heavily symbolic. Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, was born in Argentina but never returned to his home country during his 12-year papacy, despite repeated invitations from multiple presidents.

Pope Francis made his final trip to South America in 2018, when he visited Peru and Chile. Pope Leo will become the first pope to visit Argentina since John Paul II travelled there in 1987.

Latin America and the Caribbean are considered the regions with the largest Catholic populations.

In a survey of religious distribution in 2013, the Pew Research Center indicated that 39 percent of the world’s Catholics were located in Latin America and the Caribbean, compared to 24 percent in Europe, the next largest region.

But the Catholic Church is grappling with declining influence across Latin America. Polling by the public opinion firm Latinobarometro found the share of people in the region who identify as Catholic fell from about 80 percent in 1995 to 54 percent in 2024. Evangelical Christianity, meanwhile, has seen its influence grow in the region.

Since assuming the papacy, Pope Leo has ramped up his international travel schedule.

Before heading to South America, he is due to visit France from September 25 to 28, his first trip to the country as pope, and he visited four African countries, as well as Spain, earlier this year.

A massive fire tore through a chemical factory in Brazil’s São Paulo metropolitan area, forcing authorities to evacuate around 150 nearby residents.

The administration of President Donald Trump has cancelled the visa for Brazil’s ambassador in the United States, the latest sign of a deepening diplomatic rift between the two countries.

An anonymous US State Department official briefed reporters on Tuesday that Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti’s visa had been temporarily revoked.

But Ribeiro Viotti was not being expelled from the country, the official added.

“The action was that the visa of a senior diplomat here was revoked or cancelled. That is not the same thing as kicking the person out of the country,” the official said.

The decision to revoke the visa was framed as backlash to Brazil’s decision to withhold approval for Trump’s ambassador to the South American country.

Should that approval be granted, the US official explained, Ribeiro Viotti’s visa would be returned. Until then, the official suggested she could remain in the US.

“It means that they are here but without a visa, and would have their visa restored if the balance is restored by giving agreement to our chosen ambassadorial nominee,” the official said.

The move comes after Washington expressed anger over Brazil’s failure to approve Trump’s choice for ambassador to Brazil, Danny Perez.

Perez is a Florida state representative and a Republican ally of Trump’s hawkish Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. He was nominated to the ambassadorship in June, but has yet to be confirmed by the full US Senate.

Media reports indicate that Trump publicly nominated Perez before reaching out to Brazil.

Sources inside the Brazilian government said this was considered a breach of protocol, and they intend to probe Perez’s nomination before issuing formal approval.

Without such approval, though, Perez will be unable to take up his post in the capital, Brasilia.

The tit-for-tat over the ambassadors is likely to ratchet up long-simmering tensions between Washington and Brazil, the US’s largest South American trading partner.

Last month, Brazil denied visas to officials from the US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, after voicing concerns that the delegation intended to undermine the country’s election system. Brazil is set to elect its president in October.

Trump is considered a close ally of the Bolsonaro family, a powerful political dynasty on Brazil’s far right.

The US president’s first term overlapped with the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, who was nicknamed the “Trump of the Tropics”.

His son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, is on the ballot this election season.

Both Trump and the elder Bolsonaro have used false claims of election fraud to dispute unfavourable election results.

Trump has also sought to boost the prospects of right-wing candidates across Latin America since the start of his second term, even threatening to withhold US funds depending on election outcomes.

With Latin America experiencing a shift rightwards, Brazil remains the largest country to be governed by a left-wing leader: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He has emerged as a vocal critic of Trump’s attempts to increase US influence in Latin America.

Lula defeated the elder Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential elections, and he is seeking a fourth, non-consecutive term this October. Flavio Bolsonaro is his top rival.

Since being voted out of office, Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in an alleged plot to overthrow the 2022 election results.

Trump vocally rejected Jair Bolsonaro’s prosecution, which was recommended by Brazil’s Federal Police. Last year, the US president placed steep tariffs on Brazil, demanding that prosecutors end their case.

Though the tariffs were lifted, the US announced in July that it would impose 25 percent tariffs, this time accusing Brazil of unfair trade practices.

Brazilian authorities remain wary that the US might seek to influence the outcome of October’s presidential election in favour of Flavio Bolsonaro.

Lula formally launched his campaign bid on Sunday, framing the race as a question of national sovereignty – and the “future of Latin America”.

The Trump administration just escalated restrictions on Havana warning that Cuba remains a ‘threat to national security’. A former US policy advisor told Al Jazeera’s ‘This is America’ that he agrees, with Cuban intelligence being among ‘the best’, there is reason for concern.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez says 6,125 people confirmed dead as government response faces scrutiny.

The Venezuelan government has announced that the confirmed death toll from a pair of heavy earthquakes that struck the country in June has risen to 6,125 people.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez announced the updated figures on Monday, stating in a post shared on the Telegram messaging app that 61,000 people had been treated in hospitals.

The announcement comes as the Venezuelan government, headed by interim President Delcy Rodriguez, faces mounting criticism for shortcomings in the government’s response to the deadly earthquakes.

As Venezuelans searched for missing friends and loved ones in the aftermath of the quakes, some criticised the government and military forces for their perceived failure to do enough to help residents.

The magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes occurred on June 24, with the coastal state of La Guaira and the national capital, Caracas, hit the hardest.

Rodriguez said that 16.5 percent of debris from the tremors has been removed, but questions have continued about the country’s path to recovery.

A report from the World Bank has placed the physical damage from the earthquakes at nearly $20bn. Despite pledges of support from countries around the world in the days following the earthquake, it remains unclear where such funds might come from.

The United States has maintained a high degree of control over Venezuela since abducting former President Nicolas Maduro in a military raid in January, and some US economic sanctions from Maduro’s tenure in office remain in place. Advocates have called for the remaining sanctions to be loosened or cancelled to help facilitate the flow of funds into Venezuela.

Cuba’s electricity system has deteriorated amid shortages of fuel and replacement parts.

Cuba’s national electricity grid has collapsed, plunging the island into a widespread blackout.

The state-run Electric Union, known as UNE, announced the collapse on X late on Sunday but did not immediately identify its cause, the extent of the disruption or when electricity would be restored.

Before the nationwide failure, Havana’s electricity company had reported outages caused by damaged transformers, circuit failures, and planned cuts linked to insufficient generating capacity.

Early on Sunday, it recorded dozens of unresolved complaints across various municipalities, including Guanabacoa, Habana del Este, La Lisa, and Marianao, according to the Reuters news agency.

Authorities typically attempt to recover from a total collapse by creating small, isolated power networks to supply hospitals, water systems and food facilities before gradually reconnecting larger generating plants.

Series of nationwide blackouts

Sunday’s failure is the latest in a series of nationwide blackouts this year. The grid collapsed three times within nine days in July, including two island-wide failures in the same week. One of those outages left about 10 million people without electricity, while authorities struggled to restore power because the country could not generate enough electricity to meet demand even after the network was reconnected.

Cuba’s electricity system has deteriorated amid shortages of fuel and replacement parts, as well as repeated breakdowns at ageing thermoelectric plants. Some generating facilities are more than 30 years old and have received limited maintenance.

The Cuban government blames Washington, which has severely restricted oil supplies to the island and access to financing and equipment.

Cuba lost a key source of fuel after United States President Donald Trump imposed an oil blockade on the island following the US’s January 3 abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuela had long been Cuba’s primary oil supplier, and imports from Mexico have also been halted amid increased pressure from Washington.

Others, meanwhile, cite decades of underinvestment and mismanagement in the energy sector.

Extended outages have disrupted transport, water supplies, communications and medical services. They have also left households struggling to preserve food, cook meals or sleep during the summer heat.

The last seven months have seen Washington insert itself into Venezuela’s politics and economy.

It started with US forces capturing President Nicolas Maduro in January and taking him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges.

The US now determines how Venezuela accesses its oil revenues – the mainstay of its economy.

It is backed by interim leader Delcy Rodriquez – while brokering talks between the Venezuelan government and opposition factions.

But high-profile opposition figure Maria Corina Machado has been sidelined.

So, what can the talks achieve and what is Washington seeking to get?

Presenter: Frankie McCamley

Guests:

Elias Ferrer – Analyst focusing on political economy and founder of Orinoco Research

Vanessa Neumann – Founder and CEO of Asymmetrica and a former official representative for Venezuelan opposition figure, Juan Guaido

Charles Shapiro – Former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela

Footage shows firefighters dousing the wreckage of a crashed tourist aircraft in southern Peru. Police said the plane was carrying 13 people when it went down while flying over the ancient archeological site of Nazca Lines.

The former president and his wife were sentenced to 15 years last year after being convicted of money laundering.

Former Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has been released from prison after the country’s Constitutional Court overturned his 15-year prison sentence for a case linked to a globe-spanning corruption scandal involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

Humala was serving his sentence at a special detention facility in eastern Lima that houses several of Peru’s jailed former leaders. The 64-year-old and his wife, Nadine Heredia, were found guilty last year of money laundering for receiving illegal contributions from Odebrecht, now known as Novonor, and the Venezuelan government in two presidential campaigns.

Heredia subsequently received asylum in Brazil.

“It has been decided to declare the entire criminal proceedings against Ollanta Moises Humala Tasso null and void,” read the Constitutional Court ruling dated July 15 and published on Thursday.

Humala, a former army officer who led the country from 2011 to 2016, was the first Peruvian ex-leader to face trial in the Odebrecht corruption scandal, which has also tainted three other former presidents.

He had filed a habeas corpus petition – a legal request asking the court to examine whether he had been unlawfully imprisoned – which the Constitutional Court declared to be “well-founded” because it found that he had been convicted for conduct that was not legally defined as money laundering when the campaign contributions were received.

The former president’s lawyer, Wilfredo Pedraza, said that his side has received the judgement “with considerable satisfaction”.

In 2016, Odebrecht agreed to pay $3.5bn in penalties after having spent $788m in bribes to foreign leaders and government officials in order to win infrastructure projects across Latin America.

Odebrecht admitted to having paid at least $29m in bribes to Peruvian officials between 2005 and 2014.

A spike in mortality

The tightening restrictions have forced the Cuban government to effectively ration care.

In February, Havana announced a package of emergency energy-saving measures. Among them was the suspension of all non-essential medical services across the island.

But non-essential does not mean unimportant. Fernandez, the paediatric anaesthesiologist, explained that preventive healthcare plays a major role in saving lives.

Under normal conditions, he said, preventive healthcare helps doctors catch potentially fatal conditions like appendicitis sooner.

But in recent months, Fernandez has observed patients arriving at his hospital in a “worsened” condition than they might otherwise have had.

“All the appendicitis cases we treat now present complications,” he said. “They demand more resources and antibiotics – supplies we don’t have.”

Deaths in Cuba have also escalated as years of increasing restrictions take effect.

Just last month, the Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) reported that survival rates for childhood cancer dropped from 85 percent to 65 percent amid the oil blockade.

Infant mortality has also steadily climbed. In 2017, at the start of Trump’s first term, Cuba had an infant mortality rate of four for every 1,000 live births. That figure climbed to 7.7 in 2024, just before Trump’s second term, and reached 9.9 in 2025.

The maternal mortality rate similarly rose to 44.1 deaths for every 100,000 live births by the end of 2025, up from 40.6 the previous year.

Lilian Delgado, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at Cuba’s main maternity hospital, explained that the escalating humanitarian crisis has triggered a sharp rise in premature births and severe morbidity among pregnant women.

“Conditions are far from ideal at all the levels of the system,” Delgado noted. “There are shortages everywhere.”

The decision to prioritise emergency care can be deceptive. A wide range of medical procedures are considered “elective”. But just because they do not rise to the level of an emergency does not mean they are optional.

Typically, in Cuba, emergency surgeries are those that need to be urgently completed within 48 hours. Other necessary surgeries often fall into the “elective” category.

Mastectomies – a common breast cancer treatment – are among the surgeries often categorised as elective. So too are some organ transplants.

Healthcare advocates point out that, if certain elective surgeries are postponed too long, they too can result in deadly conditions.

More than 100,000 Cubans are currently on waiting lists for elective or reconstructive surgeries, a backlog MINSAP credited to the US sanctions.

Among those waiting are 5,152 cancer patients and approximately 12,000 children. Delgado said some of her patients have been languishing on such lists for months.

“Our surgical services are severely hampered by a lack of supplies,” she explained. “We have more women suffering from serious complications, and our operating rooms have become tied up with emergency cases, making it impossible to perform elective surgeries.”

Hospitals in Cuba largely have backup generators to weather the increasingly frequent power outages. But accessing even emergency medical care is tough when the fuel blockade is affecting basic services like transportation.

“Ultimately, if you have a cancer patient and cannot operate due to a number of factors – such as a nationwide blackout forcing the suspension of surgeries – then, whether you intend to or not, you are directly condemning that patient to death,” Delgado said.

The oil embargo has cost “human lives, both directly and indirectly”, she added.

Lionel Messi returns to Inter Miami after Argentina’s World Cup final defeat by Spain, which led to retirement rumours.

Football superstar Lionel Messi ‌has returned to practice for Inter Miami, 10 ⁠days after Argentina’s World Cup run ended with a 1-0 extra-time loss to Spain in ⁠the final earlier this month.

The two-time defending MLS MVP missed Miami’s first two matches after ⁠the World Cup break against Chicago and Montreal, both of which the team still won, extending its winning streak to six matches.

The 39-year-old also chose not to participate ‌in Wednesday night’s MLS against Liga MX All-Star Game in Charlotte, instead taking some time off to visit his father, Jorge, who the Messi family announced during the World Cup is battling an undisclosed illness.

Messi concluded this year’s World Cup, ⁠his record sixth, with eight ⁠goals and four assists, coming one win away from leading Argentina to be the first team to win consecutive World Cups since ⁠Brazil in 1958 and 1962.

He was the first player to break Miroslav ⁠Klose’s record for career World ⁠Cup goals with his 17th in Argentina’s second match, but French sensation Kylian Mbappe finished the World Cup one goal ahead of ‌Messi, 22 to 21.

Inter Miami (11-2-4, 37 points) is two points behind Nashville SC atop the Eastern Conference ‌standings. ‌It is not yet known if Messi’s return will come in Saturday’s home match against the Columbus Crew.

There had been some speculation that Messi would not only conclude his international career following the World Cup, but that he may also call time on his playing days at club level.

The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain forward has won eight Ballon d’Or titles, the annual award for the player voted the best in the world that year.