Peru is considering whether to give the green light to a wave of new mining projects worth a combined $6 billion in investments, President Dina Boluarte said on Monday, as her deeply unpopular government seeks to boost revenues from the industry, APA reports citing Reuters.

The government is evaluating the authorization of 134 exploration and exploitation projects, Boluarte said in a traditional Independence Day address to Congress.

Officials in Peru, the world’s third-biggest copper producer, are in talks with informal miners who launched protests in late June, blocking a transport corridor used by major miners including MMG (1208.HK), opens new tab and Glencore (GLEN.L), opens new tab.

Miners have paused that protest and corridor blockade during negotiations over a potential new law for the sector.

Among informal miners, tensions escalated after over 50,000 were removed from a formalization scheme, leaving just 31,000 that the government is seeking to bring in line with regulations by year end.

Boluarte said the government was working on starting a private mining fund to give small formal miners access to better financing. As she spoke, police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters marching toward Congress. Some carried cardboard coffins, a reference to the dozens killed during unrest early in her term.

Recent polls put Boluarte’s approval ratings at between 2% and 4%, among the lowest for any world leader.

In the address, the president also announced a deal with Ecuador’s state oil firm Petroecuador to connect Ecuadorean oil fields to a Peruvian pipeline, allowing transport to Peru’s Talara refinery.

POVERTY NEAR 30%

While Peru’s economy has rebounded from a recession triggered by anti-government unrest, poverty levels remain near 30%.

Boluarte, whose term ends in 2026, took office in late 2022 after her predecessor, Pedro Castillo, was ousted and arrested for attempting to illegally dissolve Congress.

She faces an investigation over the deaths during subsequent protests, for which she denies wrongdoing. Her cabinet sparked further outrage in July by doubling her salary.

“The icing on the cake is raising their salaries and colluding with those with power to keep plundering the country’s natural resources,” said protester Milagros Sanchez, a public school teacher.

The Andean nation has been mired in political instability, with six presidents since 2018. The next general election is scheduled for April 2026.

A Democratic senator on Monday urged SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to block transnational criminal groups in Southeast Asia from using Starlink satellite internet service to commit fraud against Americans, APA reports citing Reuters.

Senator Maggie Hassan cited recent reports that Starlink is being used to facilitate fraud against Americans by a broad range of transnational criminal organizations operating “scam compounds” in Southeast Asia. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said these groups defrauded Americans out of billions of dollars, she added.

“Scam networks in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos, however, have apparently continued to use Starlink despite service rules permitting SpaceX to terminate access for fraudulent activity,” Hassan wrote in a letter to Musk seen by Reuters. “SpaceX has a responsibility to block criminals from using the service to target Americans.”

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For years, criminal networks have trafficked hundreds of thousands of people to scam compounds across Southeast Asia, including many along the Thai-Myanmar border, where victims are forced to work in illegal online schemes, according to the United Nations.

“While most people have probably noticed the increasing number of scam texts, calls, and emails they’re receiving, they may not know that transnational criminals halfway across the world may be perpetrating these scams by using Starlink internet access,” Hassan wrote.

Since February, Thailand has halted electricity, internet, and fuel supplies to five Myanmar border areas, including Myawaddy, in a bid to disrupt the scam centers, which have become an escalating regional security concern.

International pressure to shut down the scam centers intensified following the abduction of Chinese actor Wang Xing, who was kidnapped after arriving in Thailand in January.

He was later rescued by Thai police, who located him across the border in Myanmar.

Criminal networks, mainly emanating from China, are known to run several of these scam centers, including those in the Myawaddy region, according to the United States Institute of Peace.

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BOGOTA – A judge on Monday found former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe guilty of abuse of process and bribery of a public official in a years-long witness tampering case, making the right-wing politician the country’s first ex-president ever convicted at trial.

Judge Sandra Liliana Heredia is reading her decision aloud to the court. She found Uribe not guilty of a third charge, bribery.

The ruling, which can be appealed, is the latest decision in a hugely politicized case which has run for some 13 years.

Uribe, 73, and his supporters say the process is a persecution and that he is innocent, while his detractors have celebrated it as the deserved downfall for a man who has been repeatedly accused of close relationships with violent right-wing paramilitaries, but never convicted of any crime.

Each charge carries a jail sentence of between 6 and 12 years. Heredia is expected to sentence Uribe in a later hearing.

“Justice does not kneel before power,” Heredia told the court on Monday morning, before spending about nine hours reading her decision. “It is at the service of the Colombian people.”

“We want to say to Colombia that justice has arrived,” the judge said, adding her full decision is some 1,000 pages long. REUTERS

A mass shooting at a bar in Ecuador killed 17, including a 12-year-old boy, amid escalating drug violence; 14 others were injured.

www.bbc.com

A tragic mass shooting in Ecuador has left 17 people dead, including a 12-year-old boy, highlighting the country’s ongoing struggle with drug-related violence. This incident, which occurred on July 28, 2025, at La Clínica bar in El Empalme, underscores the alarming rise in crime rates fueled by drug trafficking.

6 Key Takeaways 12-year-old boy killed in Ecuador shooting

17 people died, 14 injured in attack

Gunmen used pistols and rifles

Witnesses reported gang-related shouting

Ecuador faces escalating drug violence

High homicide rate of 38 per 100,000

The attack, executed by gunmen in pickup trucks, injured 14 others and marks yet another dark chapter in Ecuador’s escalating violence. Witnesses reported that the assailants shouted “active wolves,” possibly referencing a local gang vying for control over drug routes.

Fast Answer: The recent mass shooting in Ecuador reflects the country’s escalating drug violence, with a staggering homicide rate of 38 per 100,000 people in 2024.

This incident raises critical questions about the effectiveness of government measures against organized crime. Despite President Daniel Noboa’s declaration of war on crime, violence continues to surge. Key points include:

Over 4,000 homicides recorded in the first five months of 2025.

Nearly three-quarters of the world’s cocaine passes through Ecuador.

Recent violence has targeted innocent bystanders, raising concerns about public safety.

Ecuador’s rising violence poses a significant threat to regional stability and safety, drawing international attention to the need for effective interventions.

As violence escalates, it is crucial for both local and global communities to advocate for stronger measures against organized crime to protect innocent lives and restore peace.

Two people were killed and a third was left unresponsive after a barge collided with a sailboat carrying participants of a youth sailing program in the water off Miami Beach, officials said.

An “active water emergency” unfolded in Biscayne Bay off Miami Beach around 11:15 a.m. Monday as a sailboat carrying five children and one adult was struck by a barge and capsized, Miami Beach Fire Rescue officials said, according to NBC Miami.

The children on board were between the ages of eight and 12 and were sailing with a woman believed to be their camp counselor, Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez said.

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Those aboard the sailboat were participating in a program through the Miami Youth Sailing Foundation, the Miami Yacht Club said.

“At this time, details are still emerging, and we are actively gathering all available facts,” the yacht club said in a statement. “Our priority is the safety and well-being of everyone involved, and we are working closely with the appropriate authorities and organizations to understand the situation fully.”

Divers and rescue crews from several agencies pulled the six occupants from the water, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.

Two people died after a boat capsized after being hit by a barge in Miami, authorities say (Getty)

Two people later died at Jackson Memorial Hospital, while another victim was left “unresponsive,” U.S. Coast Guard officials said. Authorities have not shared the ages of the victims.

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Three of the children were initially reported as hospitalized in critical condition. One of the children and the adult were reportedly in stable condition, while another child was evaluated at the scene.

A nine-year-old boy participating in the youth sailing program, Enzo, witnessed the terrifying crash from the shore.

“Everyone else was in the water, but the second it happened, they called everyone to go back to the shore,” he told Local 10.

He said the incident unfolded during the first week of the summer camp.

Footage from Local 10’s chopper showed medics performing chest compressions on at least one victim, while multiple divers were in the water.

Marine crews from Miami Beach Fire Rescue, Miami Fire Rescue, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, the Miami Beach Police Department and the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office were at the scene. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and U.S. Coast Guard are investigating the incident.