Latest Colombia News

With graduation near, colleges seek to balance safety and students' right to protest Gaza war

Apr. 23, 2024 00:22 AM EDT

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The University of Michigan is informing students of the rules for upcoming graduation ceremonies: Banners and flags are not allowed. Protests are OK but in designated areas away from the cap-and-gown festivities. The University of Southern California...

Celebrity handbag designer sentenced to 18 months in prison for smuggling crocodile handbags

Apr. 22, 2024 13:11 PM EDT

MIAMI (AP) — A leading fashion designer whose accessories were used by celebrities from Britney Spears to the cast of the “Sex and the City” TV series was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in Miami federal court on charges of smuggling crocodile handbags from her...

Tens of thousands of Colombians protest against the leftist president's reform agenda

Apr. 22, 2024 00:51 AM EDT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Thousands of Colombians took to the streets Sunday in the latest rebuke of leftist President Gustavo Petro's reform agenda. The demonstrations took place in several cities, including the capital. Protesters filled Bolivar Plaza outside the presidential...

Police arrest dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia, including congresswoman's daughter

Apr. 18, 2024 19:52 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — New York police removed a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at Columbia University on Thursday and arrested more than 100 demonstrators, including the daughter of a prominent Minnesota congresswoman. Several students involved in the protest said they also were...

This ancient snake in India might have been longer than a school bus and weighed a ton

Apr. 18, 2024 17:15 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A ancient giant snake in India might have been longer than a school bus and weighed a ton, researchers reported Thursday. Fossils found near a coal mine revealed a snake that stretched an estimated 36 feet (11 meters) to 50 feet (15 meters). It's comparable to the...

Columbia's president rebuts claims she has allowed the university to become a hotbed of antisemitism

Apr. 17, 2024 17:36 PM EDT

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — Columbia University’s president took a firm stance against antisemitism in a congressional hearing on Wednesday, but she faced bruising criticism from Republicans who say her actions haven’t supported her words, especially when it comes to disciplining faculty and...

Ecuador rations electricity as drought persists in the northern Andes

Apr. 16, 2024 19:42 PM EDT

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador on Tuesday began to ration electricity in the country's main cities as a drought linked to the El Niño weather pattern depletes reservoirs and limits output at hydroelectric plants that produce about 75% of the nation’s power. The power cuts were...

Colombia's capital announces new measures to cut water consumption as dry weather persists

Apr. 15, 2024 16:39 PM EDT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The mayor of Colombia's capital on Monday announced new measures to reduce water consumption in the city of eight million people, where a drought associated with the El Niño weather pattern has already prompted officials to ration water in most neighborhoods and ask...

Colombia's capital starts rationing water after reservoirs hit historically low levels

Apr. 12, 2024 20:44 PM EDT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Luis Soler is caring for water as if it were the most expensive ingredient at his restaurant in Colombia’s capital. For the first time in 40 years, a severe drought pushed the city to start rationing tap water. At Soler’s restaurant in Bogota, nothing...

Former Colombia President Uribe denounces case against him as political vengeance

Apr. 10, 2024 13:40 PM EDT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia's influential former President Álvaro Uribe on Wednesday denounced as “political vengeance" a move by national prosecutors to bring him to trial in a case of witness tampering that has shadowed his legacy. Uribe insisted in a video message that...