Americas

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Pentagon will not publicly release unedited video of a strike that killed two survivors of an initial attack on a boat allegedly carrying cocaine in the Caribbean.

The U.S. military struck three boats it suspected of carrying drugs in the eastern Pacific on Monday, killing eight people, the U.S. Southern Command announced.

The government of Trinidad and Tobago says it will allow the U.S. military access to its airports in upcoming weeks as tensions between the United States and Venezuela remain high. Monday's announcement came after the U.S. military recently installed a radar system at the airport in Tobago. American strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean began in September and have killed more than 80 people.

José Antonio Kast, a far-right politician, who has praised Chile's dictatorship, has won the presidency, signaling a sharp rightward shift fueled by fears over crime, migration, and the economy.

Compas, a beloved Haitian music and dance genre inspired by merengue and infused with percussion, has made UNESCO’s cultural heritage list. The syncopated rhythm, created in the 1950s, wafts from bars, bedrooms and businesses across Haiti, lifting spirits and providing solace from the country’s grinding poverty and soaring gang violence.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared in public for the first time in 11 months after a daring escape from her homeland when she emerged from a hotel balcony in Norway's capital.

Hundreds of Nicaraguans caroled the Virgin Mary at flower-and-light-filled altars set up in church parking lots in Miami marking the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The early December celebration called "gritería" is especially poignant this year during the ongoing crackdowns on religion groups in Nicaragua as well as on immigrant communities in the United States.

Living with fear can come with activism in Colombia, where one group recorded 48 killings of activists last year. Watchdog groups say the state should do more to prosecute anyone behind threats and attacks.

The government presents its migrant policy as a welcoming alternative to U.S. crackdowns. But activists say those arriving on boats from Africa are excluded from that embrace.

In a petition to the premier human rights watchdog in the Americas, the first challenge to U.S. military strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats argues that the death was an extrajudicial killing.

Chile has passed a bill outlawing the use of mobile phones and other smart devices during classes at elementary and middle schools. The new law approved late Tuesday will take effect next spring. It will make Chile the latest country to restrict smartphone use among young students to reduce its harmful effects and curb classroom distractions.

Haiti’s transitional presidential council has adopted an electoral law in the latest step toward holding a general election for the first time in nearly a decade. The adoption late Monday means the government can finally publish an official electoral calendar.