An Ecuadorian drug trafficker who vanished from public view after faking his death during the COVID-19 pandemic has been captured in Spain, authorities said Sunday, ending years of pursuit for a man considered one of Ecuador’s most dangerous criminal figures.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa confirmed that Wilmer Chavarría, known as “Pipo,” was arrested in the southern Spanish city of Málaga in a joint operation with Spanish police. Spain’s National Police posted an image on X showing Chavarría in a black and green tracksuit as officers escorted him toward a patrol car.
Chavarría is believed to be the leader of Los Lobos, a powerful Ecuadorian drug trafficking organization with an estimated 8,000 members and recently designated a terrorist group by the United States. The gang has been tied to political assassinations in Ecuador and is accused of collaborating with Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
According to Noboa, Chavarría staged his own death in 2021, secured a new identity and settled in Spain, where he continued running Los Lobos operations from abroad. Authorities say he coordinated drug shipments, ordered killings and oversaw extortion schemes targeting gold mines in Ecuador.
Once regarded as one of South America’s safest nations, Ecuador has seen a dramatic surge in homicides and violent crime as drug trafficking groups fight for control of ports and coastal corridors used to move cocaine from Colombia and Peru. Political candidates, local officials and journalists have been attacked amid the escalating turf wars.
Chavarría’s arrest comes as Ecuadorians head to the polls for a four-part referendum that includes a proposal to amend the constitution to allow foreign militaries to establish bases inside the country. Noboa has argued the measure would strengthen cooperation with the United States and bolster efforts to crack down on transnational drug cartels.
At least four people died after two overcrowded migrant boats capsized off Libya’s coast on Saturday, rescue workers said, marking the latest tragedy along one of the world’s deadliest migration routes. The Libyan Red Crescent confirmed the four deaths among 26 Bangladeshi nationals traveling on one of the vessels, which sank shortly after leaving the port city of Al Khums in northwestern Libya.
Authorities said a second boat carrying roughly 70 migrants, most of them from Sudan, also capsized, but it remained unclear whether additional fatalities occurred. The two vessels were navigating the central Mediterranean route between North Africa and Italy, a passage the U.N. International Organization for Migration describes as the deadliest known migration corridor globally.
The Red Crescent released images showing its rescue teams assisting survivors onshore and black body bags laid out as recovery efforts continued. The organization did not immediately provide further details on the condition of those pulled from the water.
A Red Crescent worker moves a body bag, after two boats carrying migrants capsized off the Libyan coastal city of Al Khums causing multiple casualties, in a location given as Khums, Libya, November 15, 2025. LIBYAN RED CRESCENT SOCIETY IN KHUMS/Handout via REUTERS
Hundreds die each year attempting the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean in overcrowded and unseaworthy boats. More than 1,500 people have died or gone missing in 2025 so far, according to IOM data, with roughly a third of those deaths occurring off Libya’s coast. The North African country has been the departure point for most of the nearly 59,000 people who have reached Europe this year via the central Mediterranean route, according to Frontex, the European Union’s border security agency.
The incident follows another deadly episode earlier in the week, when dozens of migrants who departed Libya aboard a small boat were reported missing and presumed dead after it capsized. Seven survivors from Sudan, Somalia, Cameroon and Nigeria were rescued after drifting at sea for nearly a week.
An Islamic State-backed militia killed at least 17 people during a nighttime attack on a hospital in eastern Congo, authorities said Saturday, marking one of the region’s deadliest assaults in recent months. The attack, carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces in the village of Byambwe in North Kivu province, targeted patients inside the facility late Friday, according to Col. Alain Kiwewa, the area’s local administrator.
Kiwewa said the victims included 11 women and six men, describing scenes of extreme brutality inside the hospital. He said women who were breastfeeding were found in their beds with their throats slit, underscoring the ADF’s pattern of violence against civilians.
Samuel Kakule Kagheni, a civil society leader in the Manzya area that includes Byambwe, said the rebels also struck other nearby villages, though casualty information from those areas remained unclear.
Armed groups have carried out repeated and deadly attacks across eastern Congo, including the ADF and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The ADF, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2019, operates along the Uganda border and frequently targets civilians in both rural and populated regions.
The group has been blamed for a series of mass killings this year. In August, ADF fighters killed at least 52 people during multiple attacks over the course of a week, according to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo. In July, nearly 40 people were killed in Ituri province when ADF members stormed a Catholic church during a vigil and opened fire on worshippers, many of them women and children.
Originally formed in Uganda in the late 1990s by small groups dissatisfied with President Yoweri Museveni, the ADF moved into Congo in 2002 after Ugandan military strikes and has since been accused of killing thousands of civilians.
Suspected Haitian gang members opened fire on U.S. Marines guarding the American Embassy in Port-au-Prince this week, a confrontation underscoring the escalating insecurity gripping the Haitian capital. Capt. Steven J. Keenan, a Marine Corps spokesman, said in an email Saturday that the shooting occurred Thursday and that Marines returned fire. No U.S. personnel were injured.
Haitian police did not immediately comment on the exchange, which adds to the growing list of violent encounters amid the near-total control gangs hold over Port-au-Prince. Armed groups now dominate roughly 90% of the capital, extorting businesses, battling rival factions and operating with heavy weaponry in neighborhoods long beyond the reach of government forces.
The United States continues to maintain its embassy in Haiti despite the country’s worsening security crisis. The State Department has repeatedly warned Americans not to travel to Haiti due to persistent threats that include kidnappings, violent crime, terrorist activity and civil unrest.
According to the United Nations, more than 1.3 million Haitians have been forced from their homes as gang violence intensifies. Conditions have deteriorated sharply since 2021, when President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in his home by mercenaries, leaving the nation without an elected leader. No national elections have been held to replace him, deepening the political vacuum and enabling gangs to expand their power.
In September, the United Nations Security Council authorized a multinational security mission of about 5,500 troops to counter Haiti’s heavily armed criminal groups. A separate, smaller contingent of Kenyan police officers deployed earlier has struggled to contain the violence. The U.N. Human Rights Office estimates gangs killed 5,600 people in Haiti last year.
Four people were killed and four others hospitalized after a wooden boat believed to be carrying migrants toward the United States capsized in stormy waters off San Diego, the Coast Guard said Saturday. The vessel, identified as a wooden skiff often used in maritime smuggling, overturned late Friday near Imperial Beach as a strong storm system moved across Southern California.
U.S. Border Patrol agents discovered the boat in the surf shortly before midnight. Six people were found on the shoreline; one died at the scene, while another was pulled from beneath the vessel and rescued. Roughly two hours later, authorities received a separate report of a person struggling in the water near Imperial Beach Pier. A Coast Guard crew responded and recovered three people from the ocean, all of whom were pronounced dead.
Officials said search efforts were continuing Saturday as crews looked for additional passengers who may have been aboard. Several survivors identified themselves as Mexican nationals, while others remained unidentified. One person taken into custody was transferred to the Department of Homeland Security.
Coast Guard Capt. Robert Tucker, commander of Sector San Diego, said the wreck underscored the deadly risks for migrants attempting to reach the United States by sea in unstable vessels. The panga-style boat, typically a single- or twin-engine open fishing vessel, is frequently used by smugglers who operate under the cover of darkness to evade the heavily guarded land border.
Storm conditions intensified the danger as the region faced flash-flood and mudslide warnings throughout the weekend. Authorities said the incident reflects a broader trend of migrants turning to maritime routes despite a series of fatal accidents in recent years. In May, three people died when a panga capsized off the coast about 35 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2023, eight migrants were killed after two smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach in heavy fog, with one capsizing in the surf. Federal prosecutors previously secured an 18-year sentence for a San Diego man who piloted an overloaded vessel packed with 32 migrants that broke apart in the surf in 2022, killing three and injuring dozens.
Globally, the U.N. agency for migration reported nearly 9,000 border-crossing deaths last year, marking a fifth consecutive annual record. The U.N. Missing Migrant Project estimates that more than 24,506 people have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean between 2014 and 2024, though the actual toll may be far higher due to unrecorded cases.
YouTube prankster Jack Doherty, whose stunts have drawn more than 15 million followers to his channel, was arrested Saturday in Miami Beach on drug-related charges after police say he stepped into traffic while filming content in the city’s Entertainment District. Authorities said the 22-year-old was taken into custody shortly after 8:45 a.m. and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Doherty faces charges of possessing a controlled substance, possessing marijuana and resisting an officer without violence. According to arrest documents cited by CBS News Miami, officers found half of an orange pill marked with the number three, which police said was consistent with a Schedule II amphetamine, as well as a black plastic container holding three hand-rolled cannabis cigarettes weighing about 4 grams combined. Authorities said he was also carrying less than 20 grams of marijuana.
Police said Doherty ignored multiple commands to get out of the roadway after stepping into traffic around 3:12 a.m. to record video content. Officers reported that members of his group urged him to comply, and he allegedly responded by telling police he would cooperate “once I’m done with this bet.” The Miami Beach Police Department said in a statement that it remains committed to public safety “regardless of celebrity status” and will continue enforcing laws against behavior that endangers residents, visitors or officers.
A TikTok video posted by a bystander shows Doherty being detained and arguing with officers. At one point, an officer tells him, “I don’t know who the f*** you think you are, bro.” Hours before the arrest, Doherty livestreamed a yacht party on the platform Parti, staying on the air for several hours.
Doherty’s bond was set at $3,500. It remains unclear whether he has secured legal representation. His representatives and Miami Beach police did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Doherty rose to prominence in 2017 with viral clips of object-flipping stunts and pranks, expanding his reach to nearly 10 million followers on TikTok and about 3 million more on Instagram.
WASHINGTON (BN24)— President Donald Trump said he intends to move forward with a lawsuit seeking between $1 billion and $5 billion in damages from the BBC, accusing the broadcaster of misleading viewers by editing a clip of his remarks in a Panorama documentary.
The dispute stems from a segment that Trump said falsely portrayed him as encouraging violence leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Trump demanded a full retraction, an immediate apology, and compensation from the BBC, giving the broadcaster until Friday to respond to a $1 billion legal threat over the edit.
The BBC issued an apology on Friday, calling the edit an “error of judgment” and announcing that the programme would not be aired again “in this form on any BBC platforms.” However, the broadcaster maintained that Trump’s claims of defamation lacked merit. “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree that there is a basis for a defamation claim,” the statement said.
After the BBC declined to meet his full demands, Trump escalated his rhetoric in an interview with GB News. He said he felt an “obligation” to take legal action and argued that pursuing the case was necessary to prevent similar incidents. “I’m not looking to get into lawsuits, but I think I have an obligation to do it. This was so egregious,” Trump said. “If you don’t do it, you don’t stop it from happening again with other people.”
Speaking later to reporters outside the White House, Trump reiterated that he intended to formally seek damages. “We’ll sue them from anywhere between $1 billion and $5 billion, probably sometime next week,” he said, adding, “I think I have to do it.”
The BBC has not indicated whether it will issue any further response beyond its initial apology and statement disputing the basis for Trump’s threatened defamation case.
South African authorities are investigating how a chartered plane arrived in Johannesburg carrying more than 150 Palestinians from war-ravaged Gaza without proper travel documents, forcing passengers to remain onboard for nearly 12 hours as officials tried to verify their identities and status. President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed the probe Friday, describing the circumstances behind the flight as highly unusual and deeply concerning.
The plane landed Thursday morning at O.R. Tambo International Airport, but immigration officials blocked the passengers from disembarking after interviews revealed they could not say where they were staying in South Africa or for how long. Authorities also noted the absence of Israeli-issued exit stamps or slips that would typically accompany anyone leaving Gaza. The delay prompted fierce criticism from nongovernmental organizations, who described dire conditions onboard and said the 153 passengers — among them families, children and a woman nine months pregnant — were left in extreme heat without food or water.
Ramaphosa said South Africa’s intelligence services were examining how the Palestinians traveled from Gaza to Johannesburg via a stopover in Nairobi, Kenya. “These are people from Gaza who somehow mysteriously were put on a plane that passed by Nairobi and came here,” he said.
The Palestinian Embassy in South Africa said in a statement that the passengers were exploited by “an unregistered and misleading organization” that took advantage of Gaza’s humanitarian crisis by collecting money and arranging travel “in an irregular and irresponsible manner.” The group denied responsibility once complications emerged, the embassy said. An Israeli military official, speaking anonymously, said an organization called Al-Majd coordinated the departure of roughly 150 Palestinians, transporting them from a meeting point in Gaza to the Kerem Shalom crossing and onward to Ramon Airport in Israel before the group was flown out.
South African officials said 23 passengers continued to other countries while 130 were eventually allowed entry after intervention by the Ministry of Home Affairs and an offer of support from the humanitarian group Gift of the Givers. Ramaphosa said that despite the lack of official documents, the government would respond with compassion. “These are people from a strife-torn, a war-torn country, and out of empathy, we must receive them,” he said.
Rights groups and some South African activists raised alarm over the shadowy operation, alleging it could represent an effort to push Palestinians out of Gaza. Israel’s foreign ministry referred questions to COGAT, the Israeli agency overseeing civilian policy in the Palestinian territories. COGAT said the passengers left Gaza after Israel received approval from a third country willing to take them under a longstanding policy allowing Gaza residents to depart. It did not identify the country involved. Around 40,000 people have left Gaza since the start of the war under that program.
South Africa has been among the most outspoken critics of Israel’s military operations in Gaza and has accused Israel of genocide in a case before the United Nations’ top court. Israel denies the allegations and has condemned South Africa as acting on behalf of Hamas. Ramaphosa said it appeared Palestinians arriving in Johannesburg were being “flushed out” of Gaza, echoing concerns raised by two NGO leaders who linked the operation to Israeli-aligned groups. They provided no evidence for the claim, and COGAT did not respond to requests for comment.
Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman said the Palestinians on the latest flight were not told their destination and had received no food during the two-day journey. He also said this was the second unexplained arrival in recent weeks, following another plane carrying more than 170 Palestinians on Oct. 28 that authorities did not publicly announce.
The incident highlights the desperation of Palestinians after a two-year war that Gaza’s Health Ministry says has killed more than 69,000 people and ravaged nearly every corner of the territory. The toll does not distinguish between militants and civilians, though the ministry says women and children make up more than half of those killed. A fragile ceasefire is currently in place.
Al-Majd Europe, an organization previously linked to facilitating travel for Palestinians, describes itself as a humanitarian group founded in Germany and based in Jerusalem. Its website lists no phone numbers or address, and its registration details are unclear. A message posted Friday warned that impersonators were soliciting money and cryptocurrency “under the pretext of facilitating travel or humanitarian aid.” The group did not respond to a request for comment.
President Donald Trump scrapped U.S. tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruits and a wide range of other imported commodities on Friday, a dramatic reversal that comes as his administration confronts intensifying pressure to ease stubbornly high grocery prices.
The decision marks a significant retreat from the cornerstone of Trump’s second-term economic agenda, which has relied heavily on steep levies on global imports to boost domestic production and strengthen the U.S. economy. But Trump’s rollback arrives just weeks after voters in off-year elections pointed to economic frustrations as their leading concern, contributing to major Democratic gains in Virginia, New Jersey and other states.
Speaking aboard Air Force One as he departed for Florida, Trump described the tariff rollback as modest but necessary. “We just did a little bit of a rollback on some foods like coffee,” he told reporters. When pressed on whether his tariffs had contributed to rising consumer prices, Trump acknowledged that in some cases they “may” have played a role, though he insisted much of the cost had been absorbed by other countries.
Inflation remains elevated nationwide despite Trump’s repeated claims that price pressures have subsided since he took office in January, adding to the urgency for the White House to show progress as households continue to face high grocery bills. The administration has argued for months that tariffs were not a major driver of food costs, saying they helped bolster federal revenue instead. But Democrats quickly seized on Trump’s reversal as evidence that his policies had weighed on consumers.
“President Trump is finally admitting what we always knew: his tariffs are raising prices for the American people,” Virginia Rep. Don Beyer said, calling the rollback a response to voter anger over inflation and broken promises to reduce costs.
Record-high beef prices have been especially troubling for consumers, a trend Trump had previously pledged to address. His earlier tariff on Brazilian beef, a major global export, was among the factors influencing U.S. market prices. Friday’s executive order also eliminates tariffs on tea, fruit juice, cocoa, spices, bananas, oranges, tomatoes and several fertilizers. Many of those goods are not produced in the United States, meaning earlier tariffs designed to spur domestic output had limited effect but still added costs for American buyers.
The Food Industry Association, which represents major producers and retailers, praised the decision as “swift tariff relief” that would help sustain adequate supply and lower prices in a market strained by supply chain pressures.
The White House said some of the tariffs Trump celebrated imposing months earlier had become unnecessary as the administration forged new trade agreements with Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador and Argentina. Those agreements are intended to expand U.S. access to agricultural and industrial markets abroad while potentially easing tariff burdens on their products entering the United States.
Trump hinted earlier in the week that he was preparing to cut some food-related tariffs, telling Fox News host Laura Ingraham that “Coffee — we’re going to lower some tariffs.”
Despite Friday’s wide-ranging tariff retreat, Trump reiterated that federal revenue from import levies would still form the basis for his proposal to issue $2,000 checks to many Americans. He suggested payments could begin in 2026 but gave no specifics beyond saying they would arrive “sometime during the year.” He also said tariff revenue might be used to reduce the national debt, raising questions about how both goals could be achieved simultaneously.
Trump dismissed concerns that such payments could worsen inflation, even as he argued that previous stimulus checks from other administrations had contributed to higher prices during the pandemic. The difference this time, he said, is that the money would come from tariffs, not government borrowing. “This is money earned as opposed to money that was made up,” Trump said. “Everybody but the rich will get this. That’s not made up. That’s real money. That comes from other countries.”
Steaks are pictured at a grocery store in Northfield, Ohio, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Brazilian coffee, beef and tropical fruit bound for the United States will continue to face 40% tariffs, Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said Saturday, underscoring that President Donald Trump’s latest rollback of import taxes does not extend to some of Brazil’s most important exports.
Steaks are pictured at a grocery store in Northfield, Ohio, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Speaking in Brasília, Alckmin said Trump’s decision Friday to eliminate certain levies announced in April did not remove the heavier 40% tariff imposed in July on Brazilian goods such as coffee, beef and tropical fruits, including mangos and pineapples. Those items were initially hit with a 10% tariff on what Trump labeled “Liberation Day,” a move he said would boost domestic production and stimulate the U.S. economy. The second, much steeper tariff was added after Brazil’s trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally whom Trump has repeatedly defended and described as a victim of a “witch hunt.” Bolsonaro was later sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for attempting a coup.
Alckmin noted that some products, including orange juice, will now be exempt from tariffs because they were not included in the July escalation. But he emphasized that the remaining 40% duty on major agricultural exports continues to distort trade. He called Trump’s rollback “positive” but stressed that Brazil’s situation remained “very high” compared to other countries. “Everyone got 10% less, but in Brazil’s case, which had 50%, we ended up with 40%,” Alckmin said.
According to Alckmin, the policy change means 26% of Brazilian goods are now entering the U.S. without additional tariffs, a modest rise from 23%. Trump’s July tariff hike had plunged U.S.-Brazil relations to their lowest point in history, but both nations have since moved to repair ties. In October, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with President Donald Trump in Malaysia, a discussion Alckmin described as important for rebuilding dialogue and negotiating future trade arrangements. Lula later said he believed a bilateral trade deal could be reached soon.
Diplomatic efforts have continued, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira holding a 50-minute meeting this week to advance talks.
The Trump administration has defended its tariff policies as revenue-positive and downplayed their role in rising grocery costs. But Democrats have argued that Trump’s sudden reversal on some levies amounts to a tacit admission that his tariffs have contributed to higher consumer prices, particularly in the beef market. Brazil, one of the world’s largest beef exporters, plays a significant role in global supply, and Trump previously said reducing prices was a priority.
In Brazil, the country’s coffee industry is closely monitoring the situation. Pavel Cardoso, president of the Brazilian Association of the Coffee Industry, said the sector would continue pressing for stability, competitiveness and predictability as tariff discussions evolve.
