March 2, 2016 OAS rights commission finds 'serious crisis' in Mexico The human rights commission of the Organization of American States is warning about what it calls an "alarming" and "tragic" situation in Mexico involving not just drug violence but excessive use of force, impunity, torture and police collusion with criminals.
March 2, 2016 Investigation into Brazil's speaker of the house approved The speaker of the lower house in Brazil's Congress faced new efforts Wednesday to strip him of his office or put him behind bars.
March 2, 2016 Mining company behind dam burst sign clean-up deal The company running an iron ore mine whose dam break caused the worst environmental disaster in Brazil's history has agreed to initially pay 4.4 billion reais ($1.1 billion) to clean up the Doce River over the next three years Samarco says in a Wednesday news release that it will pay the money to a foundation in charge of restoring the river basin.
March 2, 2016 Philippines spots suspected Chinese ships at disputed atoll A Philippine official says he spotted five suspected Chinese coast guard and navy ships in a disputed atoll in the South China Sea and fears Beijing will take control of another area frequented by Filipino, Vietnamese and Malaysian fishermen.
March 2, 2016 Guatemala court orders $1M in damages in sex slavery trial A Guatemalan court has ordered a retired army officer and a former paramilitary to pay more than $1 million in damages to victims of sexual enslavement during the country's civil war.
March 2, 2016 Iraq signs deal to repair and maintain its key Mosul dam Iraq has signed a deal with an Italian company to repair and maintain the country's largest dam near the northern, Islamic State-held city of Mosul.
March 2, 2016 Puerto Rico police seize $2M worth of drugs, arrest teacher Police in Puerto Rico say they have arrested a special education teacher and her husband after raiding the couple's upscale home and seizing $2.4 million worth of cocaine.
March 2, 2016 Senior Facebook exec arrested in Brazil after blocking authorities' access to private data Brazilian authorities arrested a senior Facebook executive in Sao Paul Tuesday in the latest clash between the social media giant and the government over the company’s refusal to provide private information about its users to law enforcement.
