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TALKS TO END AVIANCA PILOT STRIKE IN COLOMBIA COLLAPSE

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TALKS TO END AVIANCA PILOT STRIKE IN COLOMBIA COLLAPSE

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Talks to end a strike by the largest pilots’ union at Colombia’s flagship airline Avianca were suspended after failure to reach agreement on wages and benefits, the two sides said on Wednesday, extending an indefinite walkout that has left travelers grounded.
The Colombian Association of Civil Aviators (ACDAC), which represents more than 700 of the 1,300 Avianca pilots working in the country, began the strike on Sept. 20 when talks mediated by the Labor Ministry ended without a deal.

Sandra Bonet

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10 ARRESTED IN CENTRAL COLOMBIA FOR TORTURING DISABLED CHILDREN

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10 ARRESTED IN CENTRAL COLOMBIA FOR TORTURING DISABLED CHILDREN

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Ten people were arrested after authorities found out that mentally challenged children were tied down and drugged in a government-contracted private clinic, authorities said Thursday.
The ten worked in a mental healthcare center that had been contracted by the Colombian Institute for Child Welfare (ICBF) in the central city of Ibague, Tolima.
According to the prosecution, the suspects were charged with torture after finding out they had tied down and drugged children.

Sandra Bonet

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COLOMBIA’S FRONTLINES OF THE DRUG WAR: ANTIOQUIA

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COLOMBIA’S FRONTLINES OF THE DRUG WAR: ANTIOQUIA

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Ever since the Medellin Cartel, the Antioquia province has been at the center of the cocaine trade the Colombian government is trying to curb.
The country’s most infamous drug cartel in history primarily smuggled cocaine made from Peruvian coca leaves. Following its demise, new drug trafficking organizations began moving coca growing operations to Colombia.

Also after the death of Escobar, clandestine organizations from the region have continued to dominate the drug trade.

Sandra Bonet

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COLOMBIA’S AVIANCA ALLOWED TO HIRE FOREIGN PILOTS TO COMBAT EFFECTS OF STRIKEWRITTEN BY ADRIAAN ALSEMA OCTOBER 3, 2017

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COLOMBIA’S AVIANCA ALLOWED TO HIRE FOREIGN PILOTS TO COMBAT EFFECTS OF STRIKEWRITTEN BY ADRIAAN ALSEMA OCTOBER 3, 2017

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Colombia’s aviation authority allowed the country’s largest private airline, Avianca, to hire foreign workers to curb the effects of a pilot strike.

Some 700 pilots went on strike to demand better labor conditions two weeks ago.

The strike left Avianca without half its pilots, forcing the airline to cancel more than 3,000 flights, which has affected 280,000 passengers.

Sindy Rojas

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POST CONFLICT SITUATION IN CENTRAL COLOMBIA EXPLOSIVE: MAYORWRITTEN BY ADRIAAN ALSEMA OCTOBER 23, 2017

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POST CONFLICT SITUATION IN CENTRAL COLOMBIA EXPLOSIVE: MAYORWRITTEN BY ADRIAAN ALSEMA OCTOBER 23, 2017

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Tensions between coca farmers and authorities, and the presence of multiple illegal armed groups, put civilians in central Colombia at imminent danger of violence, a local mayor warned.
One policeman was killed and four coca farmers in a series of events that happened during an eradication operation. The mayor of El Retorno in the Guaviare province warned for more violence.

Sindy Rojas

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UN EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER FAILURES IN FARC REINTEGRATION PROCESSWRITTEN BY ADRIAAN ALSEMA OCTOBER 21, 2017

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UN EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER FAILURES IN FARC REINTEGRATION PROCESSWRITTEN BY ADRIAAN ALSEMA OCTOBER 21, 2017

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Failures in the reintegration part of Colombia’s peace process pose a risk to society and threaten a peace deal with FARC guerrillas signed almost a year ago, a senior United Nations official told press.

UN’s deputy human rights chief Andrew Gilmour (United Kingdom) warned that if former FARC fighters are not reintegrated into society they could pose a risk to effective peace.

Sindy Rojas

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COLOMBIA PRODUCING MORE COCAINE THAN EVER BEFORE, UN FIGURES SHOW

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COLOMBIA PRODUCING MORE COCAINE THAN EVER BEFORE, UN FIGURES SHOW

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Colombia has spent years trying to shake off its reputation as the cocaine capital of the world, but the country is producing more of the drug than ever before, according to new figures from the United Nations.
Deforestation soars in Colombia after Farc rebels' demobilization
José Ángel Mendoza, the head of Colombia’s counter-narcotics police, said Colombia faced “a difficult historical moment”, but stressed that the figures reflected the state of the country on 31 December 2016.
Since then, the government has put in place an ambitious plan to eradicate 100,000 hectares of coca by the year’s end. Half of that amount is to be forcibly eradicated, and the other half removed through crop substitution agreements with coca farmers.
The substitution program is part of a peace deal with Farc rebels, who renounced drug trafficking as part of their demobilization deal. During much of the group’s 53 years as an armed insurgency, it financed its fight through the drug trade.
Former combatants have committed to work with the government to convince farmers to replace coca crops with another way to make a living.

Daniela Nieto

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COLOMBIA LANDSLIDE: GRIEF TURNS TO ANGER AS MOCOA MOURNS

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COLOMBIA LANDSLIDE: GRIEF TURNS TO ANGER AS MOCOA MOURNS

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More than 250 people are dead and hundreds more missing after heavy rainfall triggered lethal mudslides and flooding in Colombia’s Putumayo province. As the survivors mourn, there have been accusations that the government should have been better prepared for the disaster.

month’s worth of rain fell in a single night, triggering deadly flash floods in Mocoa and a desperate search for survivors. Three of the six rivers surrounding the small town burst their banks, leaving muddy water and tree limbs racing through the streets. Homes were destroyed and cars carried away as though they were driftwood

As survivors mourn the dead, questions have been raised as to why Mocoa, which lies in a vulnerable position, was not better prepared for the disaster. Government agencies, land-use experts and environmentalists had warned for years that the town was at risk of dangerous flooding

President Juan Manuel Santos has pledged to rebuild Mocoa and make it ‘better than before’. The government is yet to clarify whether the plans would involve moving people out of the flood zones. Experts are calling for better land-use policies aimed at preventing the deforestation that removes the best natural protection from flooding

Daniela Nieto

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COLOMBIA SUSPENDS POLICE OFFICERS WHO FIRED INTO CROWD, LEAVING SIX DEAD

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COLOMBIA SUSPENDS POLICE OFFICERS WHO FIRED INTO CROWD, LEAVING SIX DEAD

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Colombia’s police force has suspended four officers who fired into a crowd of protesters in a confused incident that left at least six farmers dead and 20 others wounded in the south-western region of Tumaco.

The move comes a day after police in the area fired into the air and launched stun grenades against a humanitarian commission made up of human rights activists and local journalists as they attempted to reach the remote site of the killings.

President Juan Manuel Santos on Monday called the episode “regrettable” and promised a thorough investigation of both incidents, which have highlighted the continued threat of violence in the country even after a peace deal with Farc rebels.

The six farmers were killed on 5 October during a protest by growers of coca leaf, used in making cocaine, against forced eradication efforts. Security forces first blamed a dissident faction of the Farc for the deaths but local activists said the police had opened fire on the protesters. Preliminary forensic testing showed the six farmers were killed by high-velocity long-range bullets.

Daniela Nieto

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BERCOW TELLS PARTIES TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR SEX ABUSE.Francis Elliott, Oliver WrightOctober 30 2017, 5:00pm, The Times

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BERCOW TELLS PARTIES TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR SEX ABUSE.Francis Elliott, Oliver WrightOctober 30 2017, 5:00pm, The Times

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John Mann told LBC radio that he knew of two women who had complained to police; he said that one was told to “get lost” and that the other did not receive a responseKen McKay/Rex Features

The Commons speaker, John Bercow, today called for Britain’s political parties to “live up to their responsibilities” amid “disturbing” allegations of a “culture of sexual harassment” in Westminster.

In a statement to MPs Mr Bercow called for new rules to require MPs to treat all staff in Parliament with “dignity, courtesy and respect”.

Evidence of breaching such rules could lead to MPs being suspended from the house. He added that calls for a Commons-wide mediation service and contractually-binding grievance procedure for MPs and staff should also be considered.

“Make no mistake, there is a need for change,” he told MPs. “It does not require my intervention for the party to adopt an effective grievance scheme.

Lucelmi Velasco

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TWO BOYS AGED 14 SUSPECTED OF PLOTTING TERRORIST ATTACKGabriella Swerling, Northern CorrespondentOctober 30 2017, 12:00pm, The Times

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TWO BOYS AGED 14 SUSPECTED OF PLOTTING TERRORIST ATTACKGabriella Swerling, Northern CorrespondentOctober 30 2017, 12:00pm, The Times

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The arrests were made following intense police activity in Northallerton, a market town in North YorkshireAlamy

Two 14-year-old boys have been arrested on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack.

They are being held on “suspicion of preparing for an act of terrorism” after intense police activity in Northallerton, a market town in North Yorkshire. They were arrested on Saturday and have been transferred to police stations in West Yorkshire, where they are being questioned.

The police search has centred on a garage building with a blue metal shutter door in the town’s Romanby area.

Witnesses reported seeing a large number of police vehicles and unmarked cars on Grange Close and Boroughbridge Road, in Romanby, near a derelict former tyre garage, for most of the day on Saturday and into Sunday.

Since the arrests on Saturday, there has been intense police activity…

Lucelmi Velasco

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DRYING-OUT CENTRES COULD REPLACE POLICE CUSTODY FOR DRUNKSRichard Ford, Home CorrespondentOctober 30 2017, 5:00pm, The Times

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DRYING-OUT CENTRES COULD REPLACE POLICE CUSTODY FOR DRUNKSRichard Ford, Home CorrespondentOctober 30 2017, 5:00pm, The Times

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A police officer talks to a very drunk woman. A report has recommended a trial of drying-out centres rather than custodyTimes photographer David Bebber

Drying-out centres should be piloted as an alternative to police custody for those detained under the influence of drink or drugs, a report into deaths in custody recommends today.

Ministers should look at setting up centres in large urban areas after the report found that 82 per cent of people who died in or following police custody between 2004-05 and 2014-15 had some link to drugs or alcohol or both — and almost half had those factors identified specifically as a cause of death.

The recommendation is one of 110 in a report into deaths in police custody which was commissioned by Theresa May when she was Home Secretary and was completed 11 months ago.

Lucelmi Velasco

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STROM BRIAN:STRONG WINDS SET TO HIT BRITISH ISLES.

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STROM BRIAN:STRONG WINDS SET TO HIT BRITISH ISLES.

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An Atlantic storm, which is due to hit parts of the Uk and the Republic of Ireland this weekend, has been named Brian, the Irish Met office has said.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for strong winds and potential flooding in parts of southern and western England and Wales on Saturday.

Met Eireann issued an orange warning, of potentially " significant" impact, for parts of the Irish Republic.

It is the second named storm to hit the Uk this winter, after Strom Aileen.

The strom - which could bring gusts of wind of up to 70mph (112Kmph) - is likely to hit parts of south-west Ireland in the early hours of Saturday Morning.

It is then forecast to affect parts of southern England and southern and western Wales later in the later in the morning.

The Met Office's warning is in place from 04:00 BST (05:00 GMT) on saturday

Yamile Arciniegas

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PABLO ESCOBAR'S WIDOW AND SON LINKED TO MONEY LAUNDERING IN ARGENTINA.

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PABLO ESCOBAR'S WIDOW AND SON LINKED TO MONEY LAUNDERING IN ARGENTINA.

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The widow and son could be linked to a money laundering operation with an alleged former cartel member now in custody at the request of the United States.

Colombian-born Jose Bayron Piedrahita  is wanted in the US for allegedly trying to bribe a federal agent in an attempt to make his American criminal record to go away.

According to daily El Clarin, Piedrahita is also accused of laundering drug money in a real estate project  in which Escobar's widow, Maria Isabel Santos, and his son, Sebastian Marroquin, also have a stake.

Piedrahita, who was put on the Kingpin List in 2016, allegedly used several Argentine projects to launder between $ 10 million and $ 15 million between 2008 and 2010

Santos and Marroquin received a 4.5% commission on one of the allegedly  dirty investment.

Yamile Arciniegas

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INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITYAD SENT FROM COLOMBIA COCAINE EFFORTS: ICGUS TO MAINTAIN DISARMED FARC ON INTERNATIONAL TERROR LIST: AMBASSADOR                                                               

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INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITYAD SENT FROM COLOMBIA COCAINE EFFORTS: ICGUS TO MAINTAIN DISARMED FARC ON INTERNATIONAL TERROR LIST: AMBASSADOR                                                               

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The administration of President Juan Manuel Santos has prioritized rural development and crop substitution to curb coca cultivation with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime ( UNODC)

Government and UN officials have been trying to convince coca growers to take part in this program for almost a year, but have fallen behind in delivering on made promises. This is because the program has received no financial support from cocaine consumer countries and is short of money, according tothe ICG

Yamile Arciniegas