A U.S. official says the Biden administration is opening an investigation into labor and human rights abuses in Nicaragua.

Nicaragua’s government has closed another 151 nongovernmental organizations, among them some of the most important trade organizations, including the American Chamber of Commerce.

Registration has begun under President Joe Biden’s offer of a path to citizenship to spouses of U.S. citizens without having to first leave the country.

The top United Nations court has rejected a request by Nicaragua to order Germany to halt military and other aid to Israel and renew funding to the U.N. aid agency in Gaza.

The Vatican says Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Álvarez and 18 Catholic clergy members from the Latin American country have arrived in Rome and are guests of the Holy See.

A charter plane grounded in France for a human trafficking investigation has arrived in India carrying 276 Indians who had been blocked inside a rural French airport for days.

A charter plane sequestered in France while carrying 303 Indians to Nicaragua has been authorized to leave the airport where it has been grounded for a human trafficking investigation.

Authorities in France say about 300 Indian citizens heading to Central America are sequestered in a French airport for a third day because of an investigation into suspected human trafficking.

Miss Nicaragua, Sheynnis Palacios, has won the Miss Universe competition in El Salvador, the first to wear the crown from her country.

El Salvador’s government has begun slapping a $1,130 fee on travelers from dozens of countries connecting through the nation’s main airport.

Haiti’s government has banned all charter flights to Nicaragua that migrants fleeing poverty and violence had been increasingly using in their quest to reach the United States.

A key portion of President Joe Biden’s immigration policy that grants parole to thousands of people from Central America and the Caribbean is being debated in a Texas federal courtroom.

Thousands of migrants from the West African country of Mauritania have arrived in the U.S. in recent months, following a new route taking them to Nicaragua and up through the southern border.

Patrick Hamilton, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War who covered civil wars in Central America as a photojournalist for The Associated Press,and later worked at Reuters covering the first Gulf War in Iraq, has died after a long struggle with cancer.

The United Nations’ top court has rejected a case brought by Nicaragua in a decades-long dispute with Colombia over maritime borders and entitlements in the Caribbean.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is offering to help try to gain the release of a Roman Catholic bishop imprisoned in Nicaragua.

The defending champion United States will play Jamaica, Nicaragua and either Curaçao, French Guiana, St. Kitts and Nevis or Sint Maarten in Group A during the first round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Roman Catholics in Nicaragua have had to hold traditional “Stations of the Cross” and other Holy Week processions on church grounds or inside the churches amid a ban on public demonstrations.

The references seem endless, and they can come from anywhere.

Eugenio Suárez and Anthony Santander had two hits each as Venezuela beat Nicaragua 4-1 and improved to 3-0 in the World Baseball Classic.

Nicaragua’s Sandinista National Liberation Front has completed its political domination of the country by winning local elections decried as unfair in all 153 of the country’s municipalities.

Former hurricane Julia has dissipated, but is drenching Guatemala and El Salvador with rain after reemerging in the Pacific.

At 100 PM CDT (1800 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Julia was located inland near latitude 12.4 North, longitude 86.2 West. Julia is moving toward the west near 16 mph (26 km/h), and this motion is...

U.S. authorities say the number of Venezuelans taken into custody at the U.S. border with Mexico soared in August.

The U.N. General Assembly has voted to allow Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to deliver a pre-recorded address to next week’s gathering of world leaders because of his need to deal with Russia’s invasion.

Hurricane Bonnie strengthened moved roughly parallel to Mexico's Pacific coast, after crossing over Central America from the Caribbean, dropping heavy rain and contributing to two deaths.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says a storm that has hurled rain on the southern Caribbean and the northern shoulder of South America is expected to hit Central America as a tropical storm over the weekend and eventually develop into a hurricane over the Pacific.

President Joe Biden plans to meet on July 12 at the White House with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

At 700 AM CDT (1200 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Bonnie was located near latitude 11.2 North, longitude 85.8 West. Bonnie is moving toward the west near 14 mph (22 km/h), and a continued...

A Roman Catholic bishop in Nicaragua has begun an “indefinite fast” inside a church to protest increasing harassment from national police, who he said followed him throughout the entire previous day.

A judge in El Salvador has ordered the pre-trial arrest of 10 former government officials, including ex-President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, on corruption charges.

A former CIA operative known for his exploits everywhere from Miami to Nicaragua to Afghanistan has a book deal.

In consecutive visits this month, Vice President Kamala Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have conveyed to the most important U.S. partner that the Biden administration is taking a more nuanced approach to immigration than its predecessor, but still asking what more Mexico can do.

The Biden administration has quietly tasked six humanitarian groups with recommending which migrants should be allowed into the United States to pursue asylum as it faces mounting pressure to lift public health rules that have barred people from seeking protection.

U.S. officials say they will fast-track the immigration court cases of families arriving on the southwest border.

The Biden administration is reshaping how it’s using pandemic-related powers to rapidly expel migrants from the country and effectively end asylum at the border.

While asylum-seeking families and children dominate public attention, single adults represent a growing number of encounters with U.S. border agents.

Space-related news is not just flowing from the world’s richest, biggest nations.

A nurse shows to the press a vial of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 during a vaccination campaign inside River Plate stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)MANAGUA – Nicaragua’s government said Wednesday that it had approved Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. “Nicaragua is advancing in its negotiations with Russia to supply” the vaccine, said the government outlet El 19 Digital. It was the first vaccine approved in Nicaragua, which still awaits its first doses. Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela are among other left-leaning governments in the hemisphere that have approved the vaccine.

(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)MEXICO CITY — Mexico reported a near-record 1,707 confirmed coronavirus deaths Wednesday, as the country runs out of vaccines. Ad___THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:Spain surpasses 60,000 confirmed virus deaths. British officials say Oxford study backs up their decision to delay second vaccine shot for up to 12 weeks. Ad___OKLAHOMA CITY -- About 11,500 doses of the coronavirus vaccine will be shipped to pharmacies across Oklahoma next week, state health officials said. ___MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Nicaragua’s government says it has approved Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for emergency use.

HOUSTON – Iota was the 30th named storm and the 13th hurricane in this record-setting 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. 4 Hurricane Eta decimated the same area. What is left of Iota is still producing rain over Central America but the focus now switches to the long road to recovery for Honduras and Nicaragua, both hard hit by Eta and Iota. The calendar might say mid November and hurricane season does end November 30th but the tropics are still busy. Neither spot would threat the U.S. but they could be a concern for hard hit Central America.

Locals move on street barely cleared from the debris of the last storm, before Hurricane Iota makes landfall in La Lima, Honduras, Monday, November 16, 2020. Hurricane Iota rapidly strengthened Monday into a Category 5 storm that is likely to bring catastrophic damage to the same part of Central America already battered by a powerful Hurricane Eta less than two weeks ago. (AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Powerful Hurricane Iota made landfall on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast late Monday, threatening catastrophic damage to the same part of Central America already battered by equally strong Hurricane Eta less than two weeks ago. Iota already had been hitting the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras with torrential rains and strong winds. Iota came ashore just 15 miles (25 kilometers) south of where Hurricane Eta made landfall Nov. 3, also as a Category 4 storm.

Iota became a Category 2 hurricane late Sunday afternoon, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center warned it would likely be an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm when it approached the Central America mainland late Monday. It was already a record-breaking system, being the 30th named storm of this year’s extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. It hit Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane, killing at least 120 people as torrential rains caused flash floods and mudslides in parts of Central America and Mexico. Eta was the 28th named storm of this year’s hurricane season, tying the 2005 record for named storms. The official end of hurricane season is Nov. 30.

Eta weakened from the Category 4 hurricane to a tropical storm after lashing Nicaragua's Caribbean coast for much of Tuesday, its floodwaters isolating already remote communities and setting off deadly landslides. (AP Photo/Carlos Herrera)ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Tropical Storm Iota was strengthening in the Caribbean Sea on Saturday, threatening a second major hurricane strike for Nicaragua and Honduras, countries recently clobbered by a Category 4 Hurricane Eta. The Caribbean island of Providencia and parts of Nicaragua and Honduras were under hurricane warnings. Iota is already a record-setting system, being the 30th named storm of this year’s extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. Eta was the 28th named storm of this year’s hurricane season, tying the 2005 record for named storms.

I’ve had a number of viewers ask what happens if we go through the Greek alphabet for storm names. Or we could stick with the Greek idea -- Tropical Storm Chi Omega? The bottom line is, we have no fear of running through the Greek alphabet. Per the WMO, once the 21 names on the Atlantic list are exhausted, the Greek alphabet is used. There are 24 names on the Greek alphabet list.

The remnants are moving toward the west near 12 mph (19 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue today. Maximum sustained winds are near 30 mph (45 km/h) with higher gusts. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1006 mb (29.71 inches). Portions of Nicaragua and El Salvador: 2 to 4 inches (50 to 100 mm), with isolated maximum totals of 6 inches (150 mm). SURF: Swells generated by Iota will affect much of the coast of Central America and the Yucatan Peninsula during the next day or so.

HOUSTON – The storm is expected to weaken just slightly down to a strong tropical storm before making landfall somewhere between Cedar Key and Clearwater, Florida by this evening. It will bring heavy rain, wind and up to a 2-3 foot storm surge during high tide across central and NW Florida coastline. Eta is approaching the central Florida coastline this eveningEta will move across Florida tonight and tomorrowWe might be nearing the end of hurricane season but the tropics are still very busy! Tropical Storm Theta is churning in the north Atlantic heading towards Spain and Portugal and we will likely be looking at “Iota” over the next few days tracking in the Caribbean towards Central America. Busy TropicsTHETA marks the 29th named storm of the 2020 season breaking the record for the most named tropical systems in a hurricane season.

A pregnant woman is carried out of an area flooded by water brought by Hurricane Eta in Planeta, Honduras, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)TEGUCIGALPA – The rain-heavy remnants of Hurricane Eta flooded homes from Panama to Guatemala Thursday as the death toll across Central America rose to at least 57, and aid organizations warned the flooding and mudslides were creating a slow-moving humanitarian disaster across the region. Eta had sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph) and was moving north at 8 mph (13 kph) Thursday. When what’s left of the storm wobbles back into the Caribbean it will regain some strength and become a tropical storm again, forecasts show. “Whatever comes out (of Central America) is going to linger awhile,” said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.

ETA, now a 50-mph tropical storm, continues to move over Nicaragua and Honduras at a slow 7 mph. Eta moving slowly over Central America courtesy NOAAThat slow movement divided into 100 (my rule of thumb for rainfall) equals 14-15 inches. My prayers are with them as Eta takes the next two days to move through that country. However, because 2005 had a couple of unnamed storms, that year’s names did not get to ETA (stopping one short with ZETA). ETA forecasted pathOfficially the season ends Nov. 30, but if 2005 taught us anything it is not to look at the calendar -- that year’s ZETA formed Dec. 28 and degenerated Jan.

(AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)MANAGUA – Eta moved into Honduras on Wednesday as a weakened tropical depression but still bringing the heavy rains that have drenched and caused deadly landslides in the country's east and in northern Nicaragua. Before the center of Eta had even reached Honduras, hundreds of people had been forced from their homes by floodwaters. Eta left a path of destruction across northern Nicaragua starting with the coastal city of Bilwi. Northern Nicaragua is home to most of the country’s production of coffee, a critical export. In the Pacific, Tropical Storm Odalys continued to move across the open ocean and posed no threat to land.

A man fixes the roof of a home surrounded by floodwaters brought on by Hurricane Eta in Wawa, Nicaragua, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Carlos Herrera)MANAGUA – Hurricane Eta churned inland through northeast Nicaragua Tuesday night with devastating winds and rains that destroyed rooftops, caused rivers to overflow and left at least three people dead in the region. The hurricane had sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, down from an overnight peak of 150 mph (240 kph). Even before it made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, Honduras reported the first death after a mudslide trapped a 12-year-old girl in San Pedro Sula and two miners were killed in a mudslide in Bonanza, Nicaragua. Hurricane season still has a month to go, ending Nov. 30.

MEXICO CITY – Hurricane Eta erupted quickly into a potentially catastrophic major hurricane Monday as it headed for Central America, where forecasters warned of massive flooding and landslides across a vulnerable region. Eta was a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 kph) late Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. It was centered about 45 miles (75 kilometers) east of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, and moving west-southwest at 7 mph (11 kph). Eta tripled in strength in about 24 hours, rapidly intensifying from a 40 mph (65 kph) storm Sunday morning to a 120 mph (190 kph) hurricane around midday Monday, and continued gain power throughout the rest of the day. Hurricane season still has a month to go, ending Nov. 30.

Location 85 miles SE of Wilmington North Carolina Wind 45 mph Heading ENE at 21 mph Pressure 29.65 Coordinates 76.8W, 33.3NDiscussionAt 400 AM EST (0900 UTC), the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Eta was located near latitude 33.3 North, longitude 76.8 West. The post-tropical cyclone is moving toward the east-northeast near 21 mph (33 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue with an increase in forward speed through Saturday. On the forecast track, Eta is expected to gradually pull away from the southeast U.S. Coast today. Eta could intensify a little as an non-tropical cyclone during the next day or so before it becomes absorbed by a larger non-tropical cyclone on Saturday or Saturday night. Tropics Models at 8:10 Friday Morning, November 13thLand HazardsSURF: Swells generated by Eta will affect portions of the southeastern United States coast today.

PASADENA, Calif. – The Trump administration can end humanitarian protections that have allowed hundreds of thousands of people from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti and Sudan to remain in the United States, a divided appeals court ruled Monday. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a preliminary injunction that blocked the government from ending Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for people from those four countries that are affected by natural disasters and civil conflict. Since 1990, the policy has granted temporary legal status, which is often extended. But the Trump administration decided to end it for several countries, saying the conditions that justified protections in America no longer exist. More than 400,000 people from 10 countries have the protected status, including some 250,000 from El Salvador, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Throughout Latin America, a traditionally Catholic region with a surging evangelical presence in nearly every country, evangelical churches have kept spreading the Gospel despite government measures meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In at least two countries, evangelical pastors have died in alarming numbers during the pandemic. Some have attended evangelical services in the city of Atalaia do Norte and then brought the virus to our lands," he said. In Nicaragua, evangelical churches large and small stayed open too at least at first. Back in Nicaragua, many evangelical churches have reopened, some with health precautions, like Bethel where congregants are asked to bring their own hand sanitizer.

Ana Marcelo, an agroindustrial engineer from the city of Esteli, poses with the crown after being chosen Miss Nicaragua, in Managua, Nicaragua, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020. Marcelo was crowned in front of a limited audience (two people per contestant spaced safely) plus a production crew of 85. The masks were off the contestants, but the judges wore them and were spaced at a safe distance. And when eight contestants vying to be Miss Nicaragua did finally start in-person practices, they did so with masks covering their faces. On Saturday night, 23-year-old Ana Marcelo, an agroindustrial engineer from Estel, was crowned Miss Nicaragua in front of a limited audience (two people per contestant spaced safely) plus a production crew of 85.