Colombia – News Stories About Colombia - Page 6

Colombia Finds
'Holy Grail of
Shipwrecks'

Dec 5, 2015 3:19 PM CST

Colombia Finds 'Holy Grail of Shipwrecks'

The sunken treasure could be worth up to $17B

(Newser) - "The holy grail of shipwrecks" has finally been found off the coast of Colombia, Mashable reports. "Great news! We have found the San Jose galleon," Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos tweeted Friday. The gold, silver, gems, and jewelry carried by the Spanish galleon—which was sunk by...

This Handshake Could End
50 Years of Bloodshed

Sep 24, 2015 6:13 AM CDT

This Handshake Could End 50 Years of Bloodshed

Colombia's president, rebel group set deadline for peace agreement

(Newser) - President Juan Manuel Santos and leaders of Colombia's largest rebel group vowed to end Latin America's longest-running armed conflict in the coming months after a breakthrough in talks put the country closer to peace that it has been in half a century. Speaking in Havana, the site of...

Tom Cruise Film Pilot
Killed in Plane Crash

Sep 12, 2015 2:49 PM CDT

Tom Cruise Film Pilot Killed in Plane Crash

Actor wasn't on board during accident in Colombia

(Newser) - A small plane assigned to the crew of a movie starring Tom Cruise crashed in the Colombian Andes yesterday, killing two people, including a Los Angeles-based film pilot. An official with the nation's aviation agency says Cruise was not aboard the aircraft. The official said an American, Alan Purwin,...

Dig May Reveal Biggest Urban Mass Grave

Jul 17, 2015 3:51 PM CDT

Dig May Reveal Biggest Urban Mass Grave

Colombia begins work near slum later this month

(Newser) - Some families of people who've gone missing in Colombia's decades-long civil may soon get some closure: Authorities plan to begin digging up what might be the "biggest urban mass grave" in in the world, reports Reuters . It's located inside a Medellin slum called Comuna 13. Over...

Guess Which
Country Has
2nd-Most
Spanish
Speakers

Jun 29, 2015 5:18 PM CDT

Guess Which Country Has 2nd-Most Spanish Speakers

Mexico has the most, with 121 million

(Newser) - Not speaking or studying Spanish yet? Then this might inspire you: The US now has the second-largest Spanish-speaking population outside of Mexico, according to a new study reported in the Guardian . According to Instituto Cervantes , a non-profit that promotes Spanish language and culture, the US now has 41 million native...

Mom, Baby
Survive Crash,
4 Days in Jungle

Jun 25, 2015 9:51 AM CDT

Mom, Baby Survive Crash, 4 Days in Jungle

'It's a miracle,' says Colombian Air Force officer

(Newser) - To call it a miracle might be a bit of an understatement: A teen mom and her infant managed to survive a plane crash in Colombia last week—and a subsequent four days in the jungle. Maria Nelly Murillo, 18, was flying from Nuqui to Quibdo with her nearly 1-year-old...

Cops: Woman Smuggled Cocaine in Breast Implants

Jun 20, 2015 11:00 AM CDT

Cops: Woman Smuggled Cocaine in Breast Implants

She is arrested at airport in Colombia

(Newser) - She might have gotten away with it if she weren't acting so nervous. Airport authorities in Colombia detained a suspicious-acting woman for questioning and soon learned that she was trying to smuggle liquid cocaine in her breast implants, reports Reuters . The 22-year-old confessed when an X-ray revealed recent surgery....

Landslide Devours
Town, Killing 52

May 18, 2015 7:10 PM CDT

Landslide Devours Town, Killing 52

Tragedy strikes Salgar, 60 miles from Colombia's Medellin

(Newser) - An avalanche of mud and debris roared over an alpine town in western Colombia before dawn today, killing at least 52 people in a flash flood and mudslide triggered by heavy rains. Residents were stirred from bed in the dead of the night by a loud rumble and neighbors' shouts...

Journalist Admits Sending Death Threat to Himself

Apr 30, 2015 2:49 PM CDT

Journalist Admits Sending Death Threat to Himself

Colombian didn't want his state protection to expire

(Newser) - Being a crime reporter in Colombia is a dangerous occupation, for sure, but a journalist there went a little too far in trying to protect himself. Yesid Toro went public with a death threat made against him, only to admit later that he had sent the threat to himself, reports...

Feds: DEA Agents Went
to Colombia Sex Parties

Mar 27, 2015 3:53 AM CDT

Feds: DEA Agents Went to Colombia Sex Parties

Report slams handling of sexual misconduct at multiple agencies

(Newser) - The DEA was pretty relaxed about allegations that its agents attended sex parties funded by drug cartels, according to a Justice Department report on sexual harassment and misconduct at federal agencies. The report says the parties—which an official tells the AP took place in Colombia—allegedly happened in government-leased...

104 Cocaine Capsules Removed From Girl, 11

Nov 20, 2014 1:15 AM CST

104 Cocaine Capsules Removed From Girl, 11

Father dumped her at a hospital

(Newser) - An 11-year-old girl is in critical condition after doctors removed from her stomach 104 cocaine-filled capsules her father made her swallow to smuggle drugs to Europe, police in Colombia say. Officers are hunting for the girl's father, who was seen on closed-circuit TV rushing into an emergency room in...

Man Saved After Days at
Sea Clinging to Foam Cooler

Nov 6, 2014 8:19 AM CST

Man Saved After Days at Sea Clinging to Foam Cooler

Solano Salazar was dehydrated, but otherwise OK

(Newser) - When a life jacket isn't within reach, just grab a cooler. Fisherman Solano Salazar is alive courtesy of the foam icebox he grabbed onto as his fishing boat capsized off the coast of Colombia on Sunday, the Guardian reports. Salazar and a companion had set out from the Guapi...

After Tragic Lightning Strike, Indians Leave Dead, Flee

Oct 13, 2014 2:00 PM CDT

After Tragic Lightning Strike, Indians Leave Dead, Flee

11 Wiwa Indians in Colombia killed when ceremonial hut hit

(Newser) - After a lightning strike last week killed 11 Wiwa Indians and injured another 20 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Colombia, members of the small tribe of 60 or so families are physically moving on—and in accordance with tradition, they're not burying the dead before they do. "...

Woman Grows Potato in Vagina as Contraception

Oct 5, 2014 3:05 PM CDT

Woman Grows Potato in Vagina as Contraception

Colombian woman says mom told her to do it

(Newser) - A 22-year-old Colombia woman who went to the doctor with abdominal pains turned out to have a potato growing in her vagina—because she'd put it there as contraception, says Colombia Reports via Metro . "My mom told me that if I didn’t want to get pregnant, I...

Hit Man Who Killed 300 Freed

Aug 27, 2014 1:13 AM CDT

Hit Man Who Killed 300 Freed

Jhon Jairo Velasquez was Escobar's chief assassin

(Newser) - The Colombian hit man known as "Popeye" has been freed from prison after 22 years—which works out to around 27 days for each of the 300 people he has admitted killing. John Jairo Velasquez was the chief assassin for drug lord Pablo Escobar and is believed to have...

Student Could Get 8 Years
for Sharing Paper Online

Student Could Get 8 Years for Sharing Paper Online

He falls foul of tough Colombian copyright law

(Newser) - A grad student in Colombia who says he just wanted to help other researchers—and the endangered amphibians they study—could get up to eight years in prison for copyright infringement after sharing a research paper he found online. Diego Gomez, 26, posted the paper on a file-sharing site and...

Cops Nab 'the Rat'—Leader
of Ruthless Drug Cartel

Jul 20, 2014 2:25 PM CDT

Cops Nab 'the Rat'—Leader of Ruthless Drug Cartel

Hernan Alonso Villa arrested by Spanish police

(Newser) - Spanish police have arrested one of Colombia's most-wanted criminals, a 40-year-old man nicknamed the Rat—one of the leaders of a ruthless drug cartel linked to 400 murders and the shipment of the largest amounts of cocaine to the US and Europe. Hernan Alonso Villa was arrested Friday while...

Brazil Beats
Colombia 2-1
in Quarterfinals

world cup

Jul 4, 2014 5:15 PM CDT

Brazil Beats Colombia 2-1 in Quarterfinals

Brazilian team overcomes 'quarterfinal curse'

(Newser) - Brazil made its way into the World Cup semifinals for the first time in 12 years, with goals coming from defenders Thiago Silva and David Luiz in a 2-1 win over Colombia today. Brazil, which had been eliminated in the quarterfinals at the last two World Cups, will next play...

Drug Lord's Hippos
Breeding Out of Control

Drug Lord's Hippos Breeding Out of Control

Pablo Escobar's foreign beasts terrifying fisherman, eating crops

(Newser) - Colombia is facing an overpopulation issue: a famed drug lord's herd of hippos keeps expanding. Pablo Escobar built himself a zoo in the 1980s, smuggling in a host of exotic animals, including one male and three female hippos. Now, 20 years after the drug boss's death, the hippos...

Santos Wins
'Dirty Election'
in Colombia

Jun 15, 2014 5:30 PM CDT

Santos Wins 'Dirty Election' in Colombia

Challenger accused him of selling out nation in FARC talks

(Newser) - Juan Manuel Santos convincingly won re-election today after Colombia's tightest presidential contest in years, an endorsement of his 18-month-old peace talks to end the Western Hemisphere's longest-running conflict. Santos defeated right-wing challenger Oscar Ivan Zuluaga with 53%-to-47% of valid votes with 99.7% of precincts reporting. Zuluaga was...