A Guatemalan court has convicted former dictator Efrain Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, sentencing him to 80 years in prison.
The 86-year-old former general is the first former Latin American leader ever found guilty of such a charge.
A three-judge tribunal issued the verdict after the nearly two-month trial in which dozens of victims testified about horrific atrocities.
Rios Montt denies having knowledge of the massacres that happened involving indigenous people while he was in power.
In a historic move this week, Uruguayan President José Mujica has signed into law a bill that waives criminal penalties for abortion in the first 12 weeks of gestation, with certain procedural requirements, and in the first 14 weeks of gestation in the cases of rape.
The law marks a significant development in realizing women’s human rights and preventing unsafe, clandestine abortions in the region.Read more after the jump.
© 2012 Reuters
A huge development on the women’s rights front.
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» What a record to break! One year removed from bankruptcy, American automaker General Motors posted record-setting earnings for the 2011 fiscal year. In recent weeks/months many investors worried that GM’s overseas operations would drag down the company’s year-end totals. GM lost a total of $747 million in European markets, with $562 million of the losses occurring in the fourth quarter alone. In South America, where the company reported $818 million in earnings for 2010, GM reported a net loss of $122 million. However, not only did the company defy global expectations, GM managed to break its former $6.7 billion earnings record, set in 1996.
An attempt to clean up a big problem: Tanks rolled through Rio’s Rocinha neighborhood early Sunday morning, in an effort to show some authority in the region, which is a hotbed for the country’s drug trade. “We’re taking back this territory for the 100,000 citizens of Rocinha, people who have needed peace,” said Sergio Cabral, the governor of the Rio de Janeiro state. But there’s also a bigger goal happening — officials want to clean up the region ahead of two major events heading to the city in the next few years — 2014’s World Cup and 2016’s Olympics. Roughly a third of the city’s six million residents live in slums — of which Rocinha is the largest one. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP) source
Via CNN: Galapagos Islands, Ecuadoran coast ordered evacuated as #tsunami approaches
More on the Gaddafi thing from @AlanFisher: “newsdesks around the world now frantically trying to confirm if Gaddafi has left #Libya”
BREAKING: “Libyan Diplomat tells Al Jazeera he has also heard hat Col. Gaddafi has left the country heading to South America”-@AlanFisher
Other Reports: Hussein Sadiq Al Musrati (Libyan diplomat) tells Al Jazeera that Gaddafi brothers are involved in a gunfight against each other.
Wow. Is this it? Looking to see if we can get more details on this one.
(Source: newsflick)
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