Guatemalans are facing an uncertain government transition despite the certification this week of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo's electoral win.
Driving the news: The Guatemalan Congress on Wednesday declared lawmakers from Arévalo's party, the progressive Movimiento Semilla, as political independents after the country's electoral registry on Monday suspended the party's registration — the same day Arévalo's victory was certified.
Hate crimes against Latinos rose again last year, while some of the biggest U.S. cities with large Hispanic populations saw record numbers of such crimes, a new report says.
The big picture: In recent years, anti-Latino hate crimes have steadily risen — and new data suggest the trend is continuing, although at a significantly slower rate.
The Santuario de Chimayó in New Mexico and the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City were recently listed as some of the "100 Most Holy Places on Earth" by Patheos.com, a website dedicated to information about world religions.
Through the lens: Axios Latino examined those and other sacred sites in Latin America and the United States. See below for more images.
Around 900 union workersat Japanese department store operator Sogo & Seibu went on strike Thursday, protesting a pending acquisition by U.S. investment firm Fortress Investment Group.
Why it matters: Labor disruptions in Japan have become rare, with fewer than two dozen strikes last year that lasted more than half a day.
Former President Trump during a closed-door deposition touted his real estate credentials and defended his presidency as he said New York Attorney General Letitia James should "drop" her lawsuit because "you don't have a case," per a transcript unsealed Wednesday.
Driving the news: "So many things I did for this city ... and now I have to come and justify myself to you," Trump said in the seven-hour April testimony for the civil case to James, who accuses him of fraudulently inflating his net worth by billions of dollars, according to the transcript.
The Palestinian Authority's list of wants in any U.S.-Israel-Saudi Arabia mega-deal includes Israel giving it more control over certain areas of the occupied West Bank and the reopening of the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, according to six U.S. and Israeli sources familiar with the issue.
Why it matters: The PA provided the list of possible deliverables to Saudi Arabia earlier this year — a sign that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his aides have decided to take a pragmatic approach to the U.S.-led talks, which could see Israel-Saudi normalization, to avoid a clash with Riyadh and leverage their position to get as much as they can from any deal.
A wave of drone strikes targeted six Russian regions on Wednesday, even as Russia launched a barrage of missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital.
Why it matters: Russia has accused Ukraine of launching the attack, which appears to be the biggest drone assault on Russian soil since the start of its invasion in Feb. 2022, per AP.
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it's investigating several possible causes of the plane crash that killed Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, including whether it was a "deliberate atrocity."
Why it matters: It's the first time the Russian government has outrightly acknowledged the crash could have been an assassination, Reuters notes. The Kremlin has denied any responsibility, but speculation continues to swirl over what — or who — is behind the crash that killed one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's biggest political foes.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo told reporters Wednesday morning that her biggest achievement in visiting China this week was opening opportunity for "regular communication."
Driving the news: Raimondo, speaking from Shanghai, noted that her trip was the first by a U.S. Commerce secretary in more than five years, and it made a "big step forward" in helping resolve issues raised by U.S. businesses.
