3 h. ago Trump set to welcome Argentine president Javier Milei to White House after $20B bailout: Live updates

Trump is also set to posthumously award Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Politics

8 h. ago ‘Saying yes puts you in their debt’: narco gangs profit from Argentinian austerity

Drug traffickers gaining influence by stepping in and offering donations after Milei’s sweeping social cutsIn a small colourful room tucked away in the south of Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, four women are making bread and pizza bases, the bright spring sun shining strong outside the windows, which are covered in black metal mesh.Inside, the radio blast upbeat tunes, but the mood is grim: the neighbourhood has been shaken by the livestreamed torture and murder of two young women and a girl allegedly at the hands of a drug trafficker who lived just a few blocks away. Continue reading...

Economics

8 h. ago Drug traffickers gaining influence in Argentina amid Milei’s sweeping social cuts

Gang bosses support soup kitchens and offer jobs and loans in drive to expand control of poor neighbourhoodsIn a small colourful room tucked away in the south of Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, four women are making bread and pizza bases, the bright spring sun shining strong outside the windows, which are covered in black metal mesh.Inside, the radio blast upbeat tunes, but the mood is grim: the neighbourhood has been shaken by the livestreamed torture and murder of two young women and a girl allegedly at the hands of a drug trafficker who lived just a few blocks away. Continue reading...

Events

64 h. ago Cardiff student who became drug trafficker and ended up in Ecuadorian jail

Pieter Tritton, 49, a former archaeology student at Cardiff University, was imprisoned at Ecuador's notorious Penitentiary Litoral de Guayaquil after he was caught with 5kg of cocaine embedded in a tent

Events

5 d. ago Pregnant Brit 'drug mule' Bella Culley's freedom hopes dashed as family fail to pay fine

The family of pregnant Brit, Bella May Culley, 19 has been given more time to raise the £215k needed to release her from an ex-Soviet jail in Georgia after being accused of drug trafficking

Events

5 d. ago Bodies of five men found naked with 'signs of torture' near church

Police have said all five bodies present similar markings. "It's probably related to drug trafficking, but we're not going to dismiss other angles,"

Events

5 d. ago The £1.8million narco mansion hidden in upmarket London suburb: Seized seven

EXCLUSIVE: The Baybasin clan were once considered one of Europe's most powerful drug trafficking organisations, with control over 90 per cent of the heroin flowing into Britain.

Economics

6 d. ago Argentine President roars his way through rock concert after $20bn bail out from the US

Argentine President Javier Milei donned his rock star persona as he took to the stage to promote his new book amid scandals, public discontent and economic hardship.

Politics

7 d. ago Javier Milei belts out 80s anthems as Argentina’s economy unravels

Facing protests and scandal, Argentina’s ‘rock star president’ performs in Buenos Aires, saying: ‘I’m human’Argentina’s “rock star president” Javier Milei has been struggling to get much satisfaction of late, as his pledge to lead the country into a new era of prosperity foundered amid a wave of economic strife, scandal and public discontent.But on Monday night the scruffy haired South American populist – the former frontman in a Rolling Stones tribute band – took to the stage in Buenos Aires hoping to sing his way out of the funk. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Burning down the house: Milei plays rock star as Argentina economy crashes

Facing protests and scandal, Argentina’s ‘rock star president’ performs in Buenos Aires, saying: ‘I’m human’Argentina’s “rock star president” Javier Milei has been struggling to get much satisfaction of late, as his pledge to lead the country into a new era of prosperity foundered amid a wave of economic strife, scandal and public discontent.But on Monday night the scruffy-haired South American populist – the former frontman in a Rolling Stones tribute band – took to the stage in Buenos Aires hoping to sing his way out of the funk. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago US struck another boat illegally carrying drugs off Venezuela coast, Trump says

President said US would turn attention to drug trafficking happening on land during speech at navy ceremonyUS forces on Saturday evening struck another vessel illegally carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela, Donald Trump said on Sunday to thousands of sailors at a ceremony celebrating the US navy’s 250th anniversary. He added that the US would also start looking at drug trafficking happening on land.Trump made the comment during a speech at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, next to the Harry S Truman aircraft carrier. It was not immediately clear if he was referencing a strike announced on Friday by defense secretary Pete Hegseth. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago The Finest Hotel in Kabul by Lyse Doucet review – a monument to Afghan resilience

A sweeping social history of Afghanistan is seen through the lens of Kabul’s InterContinental hotel, where staff endured the horrific realities of life in a war zoneSo catastrophic has the last half century of Afghan history been that it is easy to forget how rich the country’s culture once was. The Mughals always regarded it as a much more refined place than India and looked to it as the source of the region’s greatest poets and artists, calligraphers and miniaturists, architects and tile makers. As recently as the early 1970s, at the height of the hippy trail, as Afghanistan filled with travellers “high on weed and low on cash”, Kabul was still known as the Paris of the east. Memoirs of the time describe a world of miniskirts, jazz clubs, bowling alleys and ice-cream parlours. This world was linked to a poor but extremely beautiful rural hinterland where life revolved around the vine harvest and the annual arrival of nomad caravans from the Wakhan corridor.A quick flick throu...

Politics

1 week ago Farage, Trump, Musk: your boy Javier Milei just took one hell of a beating. Why so quiet?

The wild politics and chainsaw made Argentina’s president an economic hero for the right. And now, with his nation’s finances in chaos: silenceSo you really want to know how Prime Minister Farage would pan out? Well, speculate no longer. An excellent test case is unfolding right now, in a country that just so happens to be run by one of Nigel’s heroes. Javier Milei is “amazing”, said the CEO of the private company he calls Reform. “Cutting and slashing doing all the things he’s done that’s leadership.”You may know some of this story, about how a political outsider took power in Argentina. You’ve seen photos of El Loco, the self-styled madman, in a black leather jacket, with sideburns like hedges and wielding a giant red chainsaw – all the better to slash the public sector with. Taking over Latin America’s second-largest country made Milei the poster boy of the international hard right. Elon Musk: “I love Javier Milei.” Kemi Badenoch: “Javier Milei is the template.” Donald Trump: “My...

Politics

1 week ago Farage, Trump, Musk: your boy Javier Milei just took one hell of a beating. Why so quiet? | Aditya Chakrabortty

The wild politics and chainsaw made Argentina’s president an economic hero for the right. And now, with his nation’s finances in chaos: silenceSo you really want to know how Prime Minister Farage would pan out? Well, speculate no longer. An excellent test case is unfolding right now, in a country that just so happens to be run by one of Nigel’s heroes. Javier Milei is “amazing”, said the CEO of the private company he calls Reform. “Cutting and slashing doing all the things he’s done that’s leadership.”You may know some of this story, about how a political outsider took power in Argentina. You’ve seen photos of El Loco, the self-styled madman, in a black leather jacket, with sideburns like hedges and wielding a giant red chainsaw – all the better to slash the public sector with. Taking over Latin America’s second-largest country made Milei the poster boy of the international hard right. Elon Musk: “I love Javier Milei.” Kemi Badenoch: “Javier Milei is the template.” Donald Trump: “My...

Politics

2 w. ago Rise of the FAKE pumpkin patch: US Halloween tradition becomes a huge hit...but some British farmers are filling their fields with imported veg or cheap gourds from Aldi

With the perfectly crafted sea of orange as a backdrop, it's easy to see how patches gained prominence in the UK after attracting influencers to take Instagram pictures at the farms.

Events

2 w. ago As US warships prowl the Caribbean, our region must hold fast against Trump’s gaslighting

American attacks have killed more than 14 people they claim were drug traffickers in our waters. Now our islands are at risk of being dragged into a manufactured conflict we are ill-equipped to endureFor decades, the Caribbean has been caught in the slipstream of other people’s wars – from cold war proxy battles to Washington’s “war on drugs” and “war on terror”. Our islands have too often been turned into the frontlines for policies scripted elsewhere but fought in our waters, our communities, and on the backs of our most vulnerable.The recent US naval strikes against alleged “drug boats” leaving Venezuela, and the decision of Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, to grant access to territorial waters without first consulting the Caribbean collective of developing countries, Caricom, risk dragging our islands into yet another manufactured storm. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Drug traffickers livestream Argentinian women’s torture and killing

Brenda del Castillo, Morena Verdi and Lara Gutiérrez were lured with a promise of a $300 payment for a ‘sex party’‘The gangs never used to kill children, now they do’: how cocaine created Argentina’s first narcocityThe murder of three young Argentinian women whose torture by suspected drug traffickers was livestreamed on a private Instagram group has sent shock waves through a country unused to such extreme levels of narco violence.Brenda del Castillo, 20, Morena Verdi, 20, and Lara Gutiérrez, 15, went missing on Friday, after they were lured to a house in the outskirts of Buenos Aires by a promise that they would be paid US $300 for taking part in a “sex party”. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Drug traffickers livestream torture and killing of young Argentinian women

Brenda del Castillo, Morena Verdi and Lara Gutiérrez were lured with a promise of a $300 payment for a ‘sex party’‘The gangs never used to kill children, now they do’: how cocaine created Argentina’s first narcocityThe murder of three young Argentinian women whose torture by suspected drug traffickers was livestreamed on a private Instagram group has sent shock waves through a country unused to such extreme levels of narco violence.Brenda del Castillo, 20, Morena Verdi, 20, and Lara Gutiérrez, 15, went missing on Friday, after they were lured to a house in the outskirts of Buenos Aires by a promise that they would be paid US $300 for taking part in a “sex party”. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Drug traffickers livestream torture and killing of young Argentinian women and girl

Brenda del Castillo, Morena Verdi and Lara Gutiérrez were lured with a promise of a $300 payment for a ‘sex party’‘The gangs never used to kill children, now they do’: how cocaine created Argentina’s first narcocityThe murder of two young Argentinian women and a girl whose torture by suspected drug traffickers was livestreamed on a private Instagram group has sent shock waves through a country unused to such extreme levels of narco violence.Brenda del Castillo, 20, Morena Verdi, 20, and Lara Gutiérrez, 15, went missing on Friday, after they were lured to a house in the outskirts of Buenos Aires by a promise that they would be paid US $300 for taking part in a “sex party”. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Donald Trump must face criminal proceedings for deadly strikes carried out on drug smuggler boats in the Caribbean, UN is told

Colombia's leader condemned three attacks this month, which were defended as operations against drug traffickers. He accused the former president of criminalising poverty and migration.

Events