Global Pulse

标签： South America

南美洲

  • Women amputees in South America train to be World Cup soccer contenders

    Women amputees in South America train to be World Cup soccer contenders

    As global football fans turned their attention to the final stretch of the 2026 FIFA World Cup this week, a groundbreaking moment for women’s adaptive sports unfolded on a sunlit pitch in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. From afar, the athletes sprinting across the grass, executing sharp corner kicks, and weaving past defending players looked like any elite group training for a top-tier international tournament. A closer look revealed their extraordinary resilience: goalkeepers dove to stop shots using only one arm, while outfield players propelled themselves down the field with crutches, their prosthetic limbs left on the sidelines per tournament rules.

    This five-day gathering marked the first regional training camp for female amputee football players across South America, all working toward a spot on their national rosters for the 2027 Women’s Amputee Football World Cup set to be hosted in Poland. Thirty-five women from 10 Latin American nations — including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia — gathered in Bolivia’s lowland eastern hub to hone their skills, wraping up the camp with a series of friendly exhibition matches on Friday. The majority of participants lost their limbs to complications from infections or life-altering traumatic injuries, a shared experience that forged an immediate sense of community on and off the pitch.

    Organized by the World Amputee Football Federation, the global governing body for the sport, in partnership with local Bolivian authorities and regional nonprofits, the camp brought in elite coaching expertise from across the globe, including seasoned players from the U.S. Women’s National Amputee Soccer Team. Under the official rules of seven-a-side amputee football, all participants must remove prosthetic limbs before kickoff. Athletes rely on crutches to move across the pitch, but are prohibited from using crutches to make contact with the ball, putting a premium on balance, coordination, and quick adaptive thinking. Over five days, coaches covered everything from fundamental crutch movement and core stability to advanced passing tactics and game strategy.

    For 21-year-old U.S. national team player Amie Donathan, who was born with a single leg, the camp represented far more than just training. “The life of amputees can sometimes be hard, but we adapt really fast,” Donathan explained. “The way I feel about this camp, honestly, can’t be described.”

    Men’s international amputee football has a decades-long history, with the first international matches taking place in the 1980s, and a World Cup tournament staged every four years. The sport has seen steady growth across regions affected by conflict and landmines, including Gaza and Rwanda, where it has become a source of healing and community for survivors. For women, however, the discipline has only recently begun to gain formal recognition and support. The first ever Women’s Amputee Football World Cup was held just last year in Colombia, where the host nation claimed the historic inaugural title. The 2027 edition in Poland will only be the second women’s world cup in the sport’s history, with organizers still finalizing details on the host city and exact match dates.

    Lidia Mayser, president of Santa Cruz’s regional sports council, which is currently working to establish Bolivia’s first national women’s amputee football federation and qualify a team for the 2027 tournament, emphasized the transformative impact of the event. “It’s so that women with amputations can realize their dream through sports, through soccer,” Mayser said.

    That transformation is already evident for participants like Filomena Luna, a 50-year-old mother of six who lost her leg at age 11 after an infection worsened when her family first sought treatment from a traditional healer instead of a medical professional. Luna never imagined she would be able to play competitive soccer, but the camp has helped her find belonging and joy she never expected. “This practicing and training has helped me improve tremendously,” Luna said. “Soccer is an escape for me.”

  • Lionel Messi speaks in advance of World Cup final, says Argentina ‘will give it our all’

    Lionel Messi speaks in advance of World Cup final, says Argentina ‘will give it our all’

    EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – On the eve of one of the most anticipated FIFA World Cup finals in modern history, the global sports community converged on New York’s Fanatics Fest on Friday night for an unprecedented pre-tournament event that brought together some of the biggest names in global sports alongside the two finalist squads. The star-studded gathering, which deviated from traditional pre-final media formats, saw sporting icons from across disciplines join Argentina and Spain’s teams for a one-of-a-kind question-and-answer session that highlighted the magnitude of Sunday’s title match.

    The lineup of sports royalty on stage left attendees awestruck: NFL legend Tom Brady, holder of more Super Bowl titles than any other player in history; men’s tennis Grand Slam record-holder Novak Djokovic; and Kevin Durant, the only men’s basketball player in history to claim four Olympic gold medals. By the end of the night, every elite athlete in attendance joined a group selfie with the player who has remained the center of attention throughout the tournament: Argentina captain Lionel Messi, widely regarded as the greatest men’s soccer player of all time.

    FIFA made the unconventional choice to hold pre-final press activities at Fanatics Fest, a four-day fan-focused sports celebration packed with autograph sessions, celebrity activations and interactive exhibits. This decision gave hundreds of ordinary fans a rare up-close look at Messi and the two finalist teams, a level of access that is virtually unheard of in traditional closed media events ahead of major tournament finals. The event also deviated from standard press formats by swapping questions from traditional sports journalists for questions from the cross-sport legends in attendance.

    Brady kicked off his questioning by asking Messi about a viral photo that has circulated across social media this week, showing a young Messi bathing a baby who grew up to become Spain’s breakout star Lamine Yamal. “What a crazy picture,” Messi responded. Djokovic followed by asking Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni about managing pressure ahead of the biggest match of the tournament, before turning the same question to the Argentine captain, ending his question with a simple, gracious “Gracias, Leo.” Djokovic later asked Spain coach Luis de la Fuente and captain Rodri about maintaining composure in high-stakes matches, while Durant asked Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez what back-to-back World Cup glory would mean for the defending champions.

    Spain captain Rodri opened up about Messi’s standing in the sport ahead of the match, saying, “It goes beyond words what Messi means as a player and what he means for Argentina. Obviously, for me, he’s the greatest of all times.”

    Messi’s final public appearance before Sunday’s final came as Argentina enters the match as the only remaining undefeated and untied team in the tournament, with a 7-0-0 record, but their road to the final was far from smooth. The defending champions had to stage two dramatic second-half comebacks: erasing a 1-0 deficit to defeat England in the semifinals and overcoming a 2-0 gap to beat Egypt in the Round of 16. Argentina also was pushed to extra time by Cape Verde in the Round of 32 and Switzerland in the quarterfinals. “I’ve said many times: We never stop fighting,” Messi said.

    Scaloni emphasized that the team is approaching the final like any other match to manage the immense pressure. “It’s one more game. We cannot really think about the fact that it’s a World Cup final,” he said. Spain, by contrast, enters the final with a 6-0-1 record after drawing its opening group stage match against Cape Verde. The Spanish side has spent years building its squad through multiple tournaments to reach this title decider.

    When Messi walked onto the packed theater stage on Friday, most attendees erupted in cheers, many abandoning applause to hold up their phones to capture photos of the 8-time Ballon d’Or winner. Messi acknowledged the crowd with a smile and a wave, drawing an even louder roar from the audience. By the end of the event, the entire group of attendees – including the two national squads, comedian and actor Kevin Hart, rapper Travis Scott, England soccer legend Rio Ferdinand, and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin – gathered for a group selfie with the crowd of fans in the background.

    Argentina is vying to make history on Sunday: no men’s national team has won consecutive World Cup titles since Brazil claimed back-to-back trophies in 1958 and 1962. For Messi, a win would add another unprecedented milestone to a career already filled with historic achievements. Martinez emphasized the team’s motivation heading into the match. “We’ve got a group of players and a group of coaches that are working incredibly hard every single day to try to bring happiness to my country,” he said. “We’re going to give absolutely our best, with Leo, with the team that we have, to bring the World Cup back to my country and celebrate with our people.”

    Scaloni summed up the global anticipation for the match, saying, “Sunday is going to be a great show.” Organizers estimate that roughly 1.5 billion viewers around the world will tune in to watch Messi and Argentina face Spain for the World Cup title.

  • How these twins’ rare growth disorder could provide the key to preventing cancer

    How these twins’ rare growth disorder could provide the key to preventing cancer

    Tucked into the winding Andes valleys of southern Ecuador, the small town of Piñas—home to just 8,000 residents scattered across rolling hills—holds an unusual distinction: it hosts one of the highest concentrations of people living with Laron syndrome, an extremely rare genetic disorder that limits adult height to a maximum of 1.2 meters. For 40-year-old twin sisters María Luisa Romero and María del Cisne Romero, both born with the condition, shared experience has been their greatest source of strength through life’s challenges.

    Laron syndrome, also called growth hormone insensitivity, develops when a genetic mutation leaves the body unable to utilize the growth hormone it produces naturally. First identified 60 years ago by Israeli pediatrician Zvi Laron, the condition counts only 840 confirmed cases worldwide, with a large majority residing in the southern Ecuadorean provinces of El Oro and Loja. Genetic research traces the mutation’s origins back thousands of years to Indonesia, before it spread along ancient trade routes. Sephardic Jewish carriers later brought the mutation to the Americas, and generations of intermarriage in isolated mountain communities left Ecuador with the world’s highest prevalence of the condition.

    For the Romero twins, growing up surrounded by other community members with Laron syndrome softened many of the daily struggles that come with the condition. “We always lean on each other, pool our strength, and stand up for one another,” explains María Luisa, sitting beside her sister. “We can share every experience, good and bad, because we know we face the same daily challenges.” Their perspective shifted when they moved away for university, however, where they faced stares and public curiosity from locals who had never met people with their condition—a reminder of the stigma many Laron syndrome patients experience outside their tight-knit community.

    Beyond its impact on height, Laron syndrome has uncovered a surprising, potentially life-changing biological quirk: decades of research show Laron patients experience drastically lower rates of cancer and type 2 diabetes than the general population. Endocrinologist Dr. Jaime Guevara, who has studied Ecuadorean Laron syndrome patients for 22 years, partnered with University of Southern California aging specialist Dr. Valter Longo to investigate this protective effect. The team compared 100 Laron syndrome patients to 1,600 of their normal-height relatives from the same villages, tracking health outcomes over 22 years. In the Laron group, researchers recorded zero cases of diabetes and just one non-fatal cancer. By comparison, 5% of the control group developed diabetes, and 17% received a cancer diagnosis.

    The researchers traced the protection to the core genetic mutation that causes Laron syndrome: a defective growth hormone receptor in the liver that stops the body from producing Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), a hormone that drives growth. Their hypothesis holds that high levels of IGF-1 prevent cancer cells from dying off through the natural process of apoptosis, meaning Laron patients’ naturally low IGF-1 levels cut their cancer risk. Even as they confirm this link, the researchers note gaps remain in their understanding: Zvi Laron, now a professor at Tel Aviv University who has documented 70 years of research on the condition he named, has observed that even Laron patients who received childhood IGF-1 treatment still do not develop cancer, indicating other biological factors are at play. Laron, who is publishing a landmark paper this July cataloging all 840 confirmed Laron cases identified between 1966 and 2025, says research on animal models is ongoing to uncover the full mechanism. “It is the first time we know the exact number of Laron syndrome patients and the many variants of the growth hormone receptor defects,” he told the BBC.

    If researchers can fully map the protective effect, the end goal is to replicate it in the general population through targeted drug or dietary interventions, creating new cancer prevention treatments. “It would be a great contribution from this wonderful community to the world,” Guevara says.

    For the Romero twins, who have participated in Guevara’s research for years, the knowledge that their condition may help advance global medicine has helped them cope with daily challenges. Still, their experience has also brought a sobering reminder of the limits of current understanding: two years ago, María del Cisne received a colon cancer diagnosis, debunking the pair’s earlier assumption that Laron syndrome offered complete immunity. The diagnosis was a wake-up call, she says: “That made us realise that we weren’t, as we thought, completely immune to these diseases. We had to take care of ourselves, we had to exercise, we had to watch what we ate.” Today, the twins each have an 8-year-old child, neither of whom inherited symptomatic Laron syndrome, and both already stand taller than their mothers. Outside of their medical participation, the sisters run a small artisanal chocolate business and harbor a dream of expanding to open their own factory.

    While Laron syndrome research offers new hope for global cancer treatment, patients today still face steep barriers to care. A medication called Increlex, introduced 15 years ago, can boost childhood growth if administered before puberty, but it is prohibitively expensive and difficult to access. Produced by only one pharmaceutical company, the drug costs more than $800 per bottle, and a child requires at least three bottles per month, putting annual treatment costs above $28,000—out of reach for most families in southern Ecuador. Two-year-old Camila Loaiza, a Laron syndrome patient from Piñas, was supposed to start her first dose six months ago, but her family has yet to access the medication. “I want my daughter to have as normal a life as possible. I don’t want her to be discriminated against because of her size,” says her mother Mayra. For older patients like the Romero twins, who missed the treatment window because Increlex did not exist in their youth, the barrier is a poignant reminder of what could have been. “We now accept ourselves as we are, but the treatment would have saved us a lot of heartache,” María Luisa says. “I’ve accepted myself as I am, I accept myself, and I thank God for who I am.”

  • White House defends Argentina team over Falklands banner

    White House defends Argentina team over Falklands banner

    A diplomatic controversy has ignited following Argentina’s World Cup semi-final win over England, after the nation’s football team unfurled a banner asserting Argentina’s territorial claim to the Falkland Islands, a long-disputed South Atlantic territory controlled by the United Kingdom as an overseas territory.

    The banner, which read “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” (translated to “The Falklands are Argentine”) was displayed in the immediate aftermath of Argentina’s 3-0 quarter-final victory over England on Wednesday, putting the team at risk of formal disciplinary measures from FIFA, international football’s governing body. FIFA’s rules prohibit political demonstrations and statements during official tournament matches, meaning the incident could lead to sanctions against the Argentine Football Association.

    In a surprising intervention that has amplified tensions around the incident, a senior White House official has defended the Argentine squad’s right to make the political statement. Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House’s FIFA task force, told reporters Friday that the team retained the right to express such positions, aligning with U.S. free speech principles. “We believe in our First Amendment rights here in the United States of America,” Giuliani said, confirming the White House’s stance that players should have the opportunity to make those statements.

    The United Kingdom has pushed back firmly against the White House’s comments, with Downing Street reiterating its unwavering sovereignty claim over the islands and backing growing calls for FIFA to launch a formal investigation. “The World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are. Our commitment to the Falklands will never waver,” a spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Friday. While Number 10 noted that any disciplinary action falls under FIFA’s authority, it echoed calls from Business Secretary Peter Kyle for the governing body to probe the incident fully.

    Officials from the Falkland Islands government said they were “disappointed but not surprised” by the team’s action, and urged FIFA to issue sanctions aligned with its existing rules against political displays. “We do not wish to see politics being brought into sport,” the government said in an official statement, adding “Nor do we wish the Islands and their people to be used as a political football in every conversation about England and Argentina.”

    The sovereignty dispute between the UK and Argentina stretches back more than a century, and flared into open conflict in 1982, when Argentine military forces invaded the islands to assert Buenos Aires’ claim. A 74-day war led by a British military task force ended with Argentina’s defeat, leaving 255 British service members, three Falkland Island civilians, and 649 Argentine soldiers dead. In a 2013 referendum held by the Falkland Islands government, more than 90% of eligible voters turned out, and 99.7% voted to remain a British overseas territory.

    Senior Argentine officials have echoed the team’s claim, with Vice President Victoria Villarruel writing on social platform X after the win that the match was “not just another match.” “The Falklands are Argentine,” she posted. “They banned bringing them to the stadium and forgot that we carry them in our blood and our hearts.” This is not the first instance of the Argentine squad raising the sovereignty issue during the 2022 World Cup: after the team’s dramatic 3-2 round of 16 win over Mexico, players sang chants referencing the Falklands, alongside tributes to Argentine legends Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi.

  • Argentines and Spaniards face divided loyalties ahead of Spain-Argentina World Cup final

    Argentines and Spaniards face divided loyalties ahead of Spain-Argentina World Cup final

    The 2026 FIFA World Cup’s final showdown between Spain and Argentina is far more than a battle for soccer’s biggest global prize — it is an unexpected emotional test for hundreds of thousands of people with deep ties to both Spanish-speaking nations, whose shared histories and cultures have bound their communities together for centuries. This historic match, set to take place in New Jersey, marks the first time two Spanish-speaking countries have met in a World Cup final since the very first tournament in 1930, where hosts Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 in Montevideo.

    The bond between Argentina and Spain stretches back to the founding of Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, by Spanish explorer Pedro de Mendoza in the mid-1500s. Even after Argentina won its independence from Spanish rule, the Iberian Peninsula’s cultural influence persisted and grew, amplified by massive waves of Spanish immigration to Argentina in the first half of the 20th century. Today, millions of Argentines can trace their lineage to Spanish ancestors, while reverse migration over the past 50 years has made Spain home to more than 450,000 Argentine-born people, according to 2025 Spanish census data. This interconnectedness extends to soccer itself: Argentine legends Alfredo Di Stéfano and Lionel Messi became global icons playing for Spain’s most storied clubs, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona respectively.

    Unlike many high-stakes international soccer matchups, this final does not grow out of a long-standing bitter rivalry. In fact, the two nations have only faced off once before in World Cup history, a 1966 group stage match that ended in an Argentine victory. That lack of history has not eased the internal conflict for fans with split loyalties, however.

    For long-term Argentine residents born in Spain, the choice between supporting La Furia Roja (Spain’s national team) or La Albiceleste (Argentina’s national team) feels like an impossible choice between two family members. Juan Manuel Posada, a 75-year-old originally from Asturias who moved to Buenos Aires in 1968, summed up the conflict: “It feels like being caught between a rock and a hard place.” Though his heart remains tied to his native Asturias and the Spanish national team — and he supports Spanish club Sporting de Gijón alongside Argentina’s Independiente de Avellaneda — he says he will not be heartbroken if Argentina claims the trophy. Posada laughed as he recalled a deal he struck with his Argentine grandson: the pair will celebrate no matter who wins, but he doubts they would risk wearing a Spanish jersey to celebrate at the Obelisk, Buenos Aires’ iconic central gathering spot for Argentine national team victory parties.

    Eighty-one-year-old Manuel Fernández Acevedo, who moved from Galicia in northern Spain to Argentina as a young child, echoed that balanced perspective. “May the best team win. If Spain wins, that’s great, and if it’s Argentina’s turn, that’s fine too,” he said.

    The same divided excitement holds for the hundreds of thousands of Argentines who have built new lives in Spain, driven to leave their home country by decades of political instability and repeated economic crises. Nineteen-year-old Nahuel Barreta, who has lived in Málaga for a year, says he views the match as a respectful contest between family. “It feels like home here. We’re going to watch the match at a downtown bar with friends — it’s our usual ritual. I’ve never experienced a World Cup like this,” he said.

    In recent days, this unique final has spawned viral humor across social media, with thousands of users sharing stories of Argentine-Spanish couples declaring temporary “divorces” until the final whistle, and playful battles to convince children to root for their preferred side. For a match that pits two deeply connected nations against each other for soccer’s highest honor, there is no doubt: this is a World Cup final that feels like a truly family affair.

  • Magnitude 7.3 earthquake quake strikes off Mexico coast

    Magnitude 7.3 earthquake quake strikes off Mexico coast

    On a Friday morning local time, a substantial magnitude 7.3 earthquake jolted the offshore region of southern Mexico, sending immediate shockwaves across Central America and prompting official tsunami warnings for multiple Pacific coastal zones. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) logged the seismic event at 08:49 local time (14:49 GMT), placing its epicenter close to the small fishing community of Puerto Madero, Mexico, at a relatively shallow depth of 15.2 kilometers (9 miles).

    As of the latest official updates, no deaths or major structural damage have been confirmed across Mexico, Guatemala, or El Salvador, despite the tremor being felt as far as 1,000 kilometers from the epicenter. Mexico’s top navy official, Admiral Raymundo Morales, told reporters that the country had not suffered any serious adverse impacts from the quake, but urged coastal residents and visitors to move inland and avoid shorelines as a precaution. Salomón Jara Cruz, governor of Mexico’s southern Oaxaca State, echoed that assessment, noting the quake registered as moderate intensity across the region and left no significant destruction in its wake.

    Tremors from the main quake shook high-rise and residential buildings in neighboring Guatemala and El Salvador, forcing the evacuation of multiple structures and prompting panicked residents to flee their homes in search of open, safe ground. A string of aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from 4.7 to 6.0, have been detected in the region since the initial seismic event. In Guatemala, President Bernardo Arévalo confirmed that a separate magnitude 5.6 aftershock centered near Quetzaltenango prompted the deployment of the country’s national emergency management team, but no loss of life has been recorded there. In a public post to X, Arévalo urged Guatemalan citizens to remain calm and comply with all official safety guidance.

    The U.S. Tsunami Warning System, overseen by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), issued alerts warning that hazardous tsunami waves between 0.3 meters and 1 meter above average tide levels could form along the immediate coasts of Mexico and Guatemala. For more distant Pacific coastal areas including El Salvador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Honduras, NOAA forecast smaller tsunami surges of less than 0.3 meters above tide level.

    NOAA experts emphasized that tsunamis are prolonged sequences of ocean waves, with gaps between crests stretching from five minutes to an hour, and dangerous conditions can persist for multiple hours after an initial quake. The agency warned that people caught in tsunami waters face severe risks including drowning, injury from floating debris, and being swept out to open sea. It added that local and national government agencies in at-risk zones have been directed to communicate safety guidance to vulnerable populations, and urged residents in threatened coastal areas to stay tuned for official updates and follow all instructions from emergency management authorities.

  • Latin American governments prepare for El Nino as drought, floods and heat loom

    Latin American governments prepare for El Nino as drought, floods and heat loom

    As a strengthening El Niño builds across the Pacific Ocean, governments throughout Latin America have begun mobilizing emergency resources and activating contingency frameworks to brace for a wave of coming climate disruptions, from crippling drought and extreme heat to devastating floods and landslides. Meteorologists have confirmed the climate phenomenon is already active, with projections indicating it will continue to gain intensity through the final months of 2024. Unlike sudden natural disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes, El Niño develops gradually over months, offering governments a critical window of preparation before its most severe impacts hit. However, climate experts warn regional authorities have a long track record of failing to translate early scientific forecasts into actionable, proactive measures, leaving open questions about whether the region will avoid the widespread damage that marked past major El Niño events.
    Past strong El Niño cycles inflicted billions of dollars in economic damage across Latin America. The climate system shifts bring uneven impacts: some regions face extreme, long-lasting drought, while others get pounded by excessive rainfall that triggers floods and deadly landslides. In previous events, El Niño disrupted regional agricultural production, strained already limited drinking water supplies, fueled large-scale out-of-control wildfires, and cut hydroelectric power output in hydrology-dependent nations, leading to widespread energy shortages. The World Meteorological Organization’s representative for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, Rodney Martinez, emphasized that the confirmed, ongoing event requires urgent action now, not delayed planning. “El Niño is confirmed. El Nino is ongoing. It’s not simply a possibility,” Martinez said. “Now is the time for decisions, for effective preparedness and the political consistency to really be proactive this time.”
    Martinez urged countries to use the remaining window before impacts peak to shore up alternative energy supplies, protect high-vulnerability communities, and pre-position resources to handle strain on critical public services. For nations heavily reliant on hydropower such as Ecuador, this means activating thermal power generation capacity to offset falling reservoir levels during extended dry periods, and completing all required maintenance and procurement well ahead of potential shortages. He pointed to 2023’s widespread energy crisis in Ecuador, where severe drought drained hydroelectric reservoirs and left millions without power for days, as a clear warning of what could come this year.
    According to WMO data, Central America, parts of the Caribbean and northern South America are already recording far drier conditions than the historical average, changes directly linked to the developing El Niño. These dry conditions are projected to spread into large swathes of the Amazon basin, stoking urgent concerns over drinking water access, agricultural productivity, and elevated wildfire risk. Threat levels and types vary dramatically across the region, leading to targeted preparation efforts:
    In Brazil, Colombia and much of Central America, the top priorities are preparing for drought, potable water shortages, and an unusually intense wildfire season. Brazil has already deployed more than 4,600 federal personnel to support wildfire prevention and response, expanded professional firefighting brigades, and pre-positioned aerial firefighting aircraft ahead of what officials warn could be one of the worst fire seasons on record. Colombia, for its part, has activated continuous national water level monitoring systems, upgraded wildfire response preparedness, and issued guidance to local governments to pre-plan for potential water shortages.
    In other parts of the region, governments are gearing up for catastrophic flooding. Historically, strong El Niño events bring intense, damaging rainfall to Ecuador’s Pacific coast, prompting the national government to order local authorities to draft tailored contingency plans and allocate millions of dollars for flood mitigation infrastructure, emergency response deployments, and post-disaster agricultural recovery. Local teams have already begun clearing blocked drainage channels, stabilizing landslide-prone hillsides, and setting up stocked emergency shelters for displaced residents. Costa Rica has rolled out more than 200 separate actions under a national contingency plan, ranging from protecting drinking water reserves to expanding backup renewable energy capacity to prepping for severe wildfires. Peru has upgraded its national monitoring and early warning systems and expanded its on-the-ground meteorological observation network to track changing conditions in real time. Panamanian officials have also developed specific contingency plans to protect operations at the Panama Canal, one of the world’s busiest and most economically critical trade routes, where reduced rainfall can lower water levels enough to disrupt shipping transits.
    The WMO warns that El Niño’s impacts will stretch beyond immediate environmental disruption: prolonged drought and extreme heat threaten food security across Central America’s Dry Corridor, while excessive rainfall and flooding in other regions can damage critical infrastructure, contaminate drinking water supplies, and increase the risk of widespread infectious disease outbreaks.
    Despite the months of early advance warning, experts warn preparation efforts remain deeply uneven across the region. Martinez noted that many authorities still delay critical planning and investment, even as scientific forecasts grow more certain about El Niño’s intensity. Some officials wait for additional confirmation of the event’s track, while others wrongly assume their countries will avoid the worst impacts. “The reality is that this preparation doesn’t happen until they have the emergency,” he said. Postponing action, he warned, will leave governments scrambling to respond once droughts, floods and heat waves reach their peak intensity.
    Colombia’s Environment Minister Irene Vélez told the Associated Press that while El Niño is a recurring climate event, its current intensity is unprecedented, bringing new risks of longer duration and a broader geographic reach than past events. Research on past major El Niño events has found the economic damage can linger for years, with the most severe cycles ultimately costing the global economy trillions of dollars in cumulative losses. For governments that have not yet acted, Martinez’s message is clear: “Be prepared in advance, in a serious way. The information is there. Now is the time for decisions.”
    Vélez added that the challenge goes far beyond responding to a single extreme climate event, arguing that governments across the region must implement long-term systemic adaptation to address increasingly frequent and intense extreme conditions driven by human-caused climate change. “Climate change is here to stay,” she said.

  • A Brazilian bay’s surprise shark nursery sparks conservation project

    A Brazilian bay’s surprise shark nursery sparks conservation project

    Nestled along the sparkling emerald waters of southeastern Brazil’s Ilha Grande Bay, a small fishing community has undergone a profound shift in its relationship with one of the ocean’s most misunderstood predators: the blacktip shark. Where locals once viewed these sharks as a readily available source of food, a groundbreaking scientific discovery has transformed the region into a unexpected hub for global shark conservation efforts.

    The turning point came when a team of researchers uncovered that Piraquara de Fora, a sheltered local cove, serves as a regular gathering ground for dozens of pregnant blacktip sharks. This finding launched the Sharks of Ilha Grande Bay project, run under the Brazilian Institute for Nature Conservation, which is working to turn community attitudes toward shark protection.

    Brazil holds a uniquely important position in global shark conservation: it boasts the highest national shark meat consumption in the world, while its extensive coastline supports an extraordinary diversity of shark species and hosts critical habitats for many populations already classified as threatened. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warns that sharks rank among the most at-risk groups of vertebrates on the planet, with more than one-third of all species facing extinction due to overfishing, habitat destruction, and climate change. That makes protecting Brazilian shark habitats a global priority.

    Experts leading the project emphasize that identifying and safeguarding shark nurseries is the backbone of effective long-term conservation. Unlike most bony fish, sharks have extremely slow reproductive rates, producing far fewer offspring per breeding cycle, which leaves their populations especially vulnerable to population collapse. “Breeding areas are fundamental to ensuring the species survives throughout this Atlantic ecoregion,” explains Leonardo Mitrano Neves, who leads the project’s scientific team. To build robust data to support protection efforts, Neves and his team recently conducted on-site monitoring, submerging camera-equipped monitoring devices across the cove, baited to attract sharks, before analyzing collected footage and drone imagery in a laboratory.

    While blacktip sharks are the most common species in the cove, the project also extends conservation work to other at-risk local species, including sand tiger sharks and hammerhead sharks. Beyond scientific research, the initiative focuses on deep, community-centered engagement, including rolling out environmental education programs in local schools to reframe sharks as a valued part of the region’s natural heritage, rather than prey. Outreach materials also stress that local shark species pose no threat to humans, noting that no unprovoked shark attacks have ever been recorded in the area.

    The project also addresses a key regulatory gap that continues to threaten shark populations across Brazil. While Brazilian law bans targeted fishing of protected shark species, incidental bycatch of non-protected sharks is still permitted, and loose labeling rules allow unregulated shark meat to be sold under the generic market name “cação”, making it almost impossible for consumers to identify what they are buying. Conservation teams are working to educate locals about the dual risks of eating shark meat: the harm it causes to already endangered populations, and the direct health hazards for consumers. As apex predators, sharks accumulate dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals including mercury, arsenic, and lead in their tissues over their lifetimes; a 2024 study even detected traces of cocaine in some Brazilian sharpnose sharks tested off the country’s coast.

    Project coordinator José Truda Palazzo reports that these community outreach efforts are already delivering tangible results. “We hope that more and more people come to understand that cação is shark, and shark meat is toxic, in addition to the fact that sharks are endangered animals,” he said.

    Beyond conservation, the project is opening up new economic opportunities for the remote, resource-limited local community. Conservation leaders predict that shark watching—from coastal vantage points on forested mountains, from boats, or even for underwater diving excursions—could grow into a sustainable ecotourism industry that provides consistent alternative income for residents.

    Marlene Fernanda do Nascimento Martins, a 35-year-old local community leader who currently fishes and sells ice to support her three children, said the prospect of ecotourism is a welcome development for the area. “We’re a remote community with very limited resources. So anything that comes along that can help us preserve our village is a good thing,” she explained.

    For long-time locals, the shift in attitudes has become intergenerational. Reinaldo Dias da Rocha, another resident of the community, noted that his father already encouraged him to avoid hunting sharks, but the project has reinforced the importance of protecting the animals. “We pass the information on to our nephews, to tourists who come to discover this place and enjoy our beautiful beaches, and further labor the point that what we call cação isn’t to be eaten,” he said.

  • Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to attend World Cup final against Argentina

    Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to attend World Cup final against Argentina

    MADRID – In a surprising convergence of global politics and elite soccer, the office of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced Friday that he will travel to the United States to attend Sunday’s highly anticipated World Cup final between Spain and Argentina.

    Sánchez will not be the only high-profile dignitary in the stands at the East Rutherford, New Jersey venue: Spanish King Felipe VI has also confirmed his planned attendance at the match, while former U.S. President Donald Trump has also been slated to appear for the title decider.

    The gathering sets up a high-stakes public meeting between two leaders who have a long history of sharp public disagreements on major global issues. Sánchez and Trump have clashed repeatedly on the international diplomatic stage over multiple divisive topics, ranging from escalating tensions around the Iran conflict to disputes over Spain’s required defense spending commitments to NATO, and most recently, over Washington’s unwavering backing of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza following the 2023 Hamas attacks.

    Notably, Argentine President Javier Milei – a well-known political ally of Trump – will skip the in-person final. The leader has explained his absence as rooted in personal sports superstition, saying he will follow the match from his private residence in Argentina instead. Sunday’s final will be a historic clash between two of global soccer’s most decorated programs: Argentina, which enters the match as the defending three-time World Cup champion, will face off against 2010 tournament winner Spain as both sides compete to lift the sport’s most prestigious trophy.

  • Argentine President Milei won’t attend the World Cup final, citing superstition

    Argentine President Milei won’t attend the World Cup final, citing superstition

    As Argentina’s national men’s soccer team prepares to face Spain in the highly anticipated FIFA World Cup final this Sunday, President Javier Milei has made a surprising announcement that highlights the deep cultural connection between sports and ritual in the South American nation: he will not travel to the match venue in New Jersey to attend the game in person, despite widespread expectations that he would join U.S. President Donald Trump and FIFA chief Gianni Infantino for the high-profile showdown. Instead, Milei will stick to the routine that has brought Argentina victory so far in the tournament, watching the match from his official presidential residence in Olivos.