Colombia to kill dozens of "cocaine hippos" linked to Pablo Escobar
Colombian officials on Monday authorized a plan to cull dozens of hippos roaming freely through a region in the center of the country, where they threaten villagers and displace native species years after notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar brought in the first ones.
Environment Minister Irene Vélez said previous methods to control the population of the so-called "cocaine hippos" have been expensive and unsuccessful, including neutering some of the animals or moving them to zoos. Vélez said up to 80 hippos would be affected by the measure. She did not say when hunting would begin.
"If we don't do this we will not be able to control the population," Vélez said. "We have to take this action to preserve our ecosystems."
Colombia is the only country outside of Africa with a wild hippo population. The hippos are the descendants of four brought to the country in the 1980s by Escobar as he built a private zoo in Hacienda Nápoles, a gigantic ranch in the Magdalena River valley with a private landing strip that served as his rural abode.
A study published by Colombia's National University estimated that around 170 hippos were roaming freely in the country in 2022.
Colombia has declared them an invasive species and experts have said sterilization alone is not enough to control the growth of the animals, which is why the government previously arranged for the possible transfer of hippos to overseas sanctuaries. But the cost of deporting the hippos is also expensive — an estimated $3.5 million.
Recently, hippos have been spotted in areas that are more than 60 miles north of the ranch.
Environmental authorities in Colombia say the mammals pose a threat to villagers who have encountered them in farms and rivers. They also compete for food and space against local species such as river manatees.
Independent journalist Audrey Huse, who has lived in Colombia for years, previously told CBS News that because the hippos roam freely, they end up killing fish and threatening endemic species like manatees, otters and turtles.
"Because they have no natural predators here, as they would in Africa, the population is booming an it's affecting the local ecosystem," Huse said. "Because they are such large animals, they consume considerable amounts of grassland and produce significant waste, which then poisons the rivers."
Despite the challenges, the hippos have also become a tourist attraction, with residents of villages surrounding Hacienda Nápoles offering hippo spotting tours and selling hippo-themed souvenirs.
The hippos are also one of the main attractions at the Nápoles ranch, which was confiscated by Colombia's government as it seized Escobar's properties. It now functions as a theme park, featuring swimming spools, water slides and a zoo that includes several other African species.
Last October, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced the country handed over a chunk of Escobar's ranch to women caught up in the nation's armed conflict.
Animal welfare activists in Colombia have long opposed proposals to kill the hippos, arguing they deserve to live. They say that addressing the problem through violence sets a poor example for a country that has gone through decades of internal conflict.
Andrea Padilla, a senator and animal rights activist who helped draft a law against bullfights in Colombia, described the plan to cull the hippos as a "cruel" decision, and accused government officials of trying to take the easy way out.
"Killings and massacres will never be acceptable," Padilla wrote on X. "These are healthy creatures who are victims of the negligence" of government entities.
Over the past 12 years, spanning three presidential administrations, Colombia has tried to neuter some of the hippos in a bid to reduce their population. But the initiatives have had limited scope due to high costs that come with capturing the dangerous animals and performing surgeries on them.
Because Colombia's hippos come from a limited gene pool and could carry diseases, taking them back to their natural habitat in Africa has been considered unfeasible.
Is your phone listening to you?
A lot of people have had a very creepy experience with their phones. One woman told us, "Sometimes when I talk about something with my friends, then I'll, like, look on TikTok 30 minutes later – and the same thing will show up."
One visitor to New York told us, "We were talking about this trip before we came, and then my Instagram reel was just full of New York content for weeks."
Another woman described talking about trying a type of food with her friends. "And then the second you open the app, it shows you exactly that," she said. "It's a bit strange!"
So, is your phone listening to you? "It is not," said Ari Paparo, an ad industry veteran, consultant and author. "I've been asked about this a million times. And I can guarantee you that your phone is not passively listening to you for advertising purposes."
Paparo has been asked this before. "Oh, my whole family thinks it's true!" he laughed.
Paparo says that there is no way anyone could process audio from billions of phones. "Listening to every conversation around the world, and interpreting them and looking for certain words, and then matching them to the ads is impossible," he said.
So, why does it seem like the phone is listening? First, because advertisers do target you with ads tailored to your interests. But they don't need to listen to what you say to do that. Paparo said, "They can infer or deduce things about you, like where you live, and your age, and probably what you're interested in, based on what's websites you went to or what apps you've used. And that whole combination can get pretty precise."
Secondly, because you might live with someone who searched for a product online.
Why did Facebook show me an ad for a carrot peeler, after I told my wife we should get a better peeler? "Your wife could have looked for a peeler, and then the ad company couldn't really tell the difference between her and you, because you're using the same internet in the same household," Paparo said. "That happens a lot."
David Choffnes, a professor of Computer Science at Northeastern University, wanted to test whether your smartphone is spying on you. "We did a study with thousands of apps on an Android device, and wanted to see, as you interact with these apps, are they recording your audio and sending it off?
"We didn't see any surreptitious recording of information," he said. "But these companies are very good at watching everything you're doing online."
And what you're doing in your home. Choffnes has set up a fake apartment filled with online devices – smart appliances, cameras, smart speakers – to study how much data they send. "We try to identify, are they sending data to places we're not comfortable with?" he said.
Now, advertisers do not know who you are; they don't have your name or address. But they do know what categories you fit into.
And many states require data collection companies to give you your advertising on request. Choffnes, for example, got a copy of his data report, which clocks in at more than 300 pages: "Just filled wall-to-wall with inferences about me," he said.
Although it's not especially accurate. For example, it says he has an Xbox ("I do not have an Xbox," he said), and that he's extremely likely to go on a cruise ("Which is interesting, 'cause I never want to go on a cruise!" he laughed).
If you'd like to minimize the data you're feeding advertisers, there are a few steps you can take.
Choffnes also said, "You can push your lawmakers to come up with laws that are favorable for consumers and not just favorable for the businesses that are collecting data from us."
And Ari Paparo says your choice of web browser matters, too. "The Safari browser doesn't allow a lot of this," he said. "Advertisers are not big fans of Apple and Safari."
To confirm, he doesn't believe smartphones are eavesdropping: "I'm sure the phone is not overhearing you," he said.
And he's equally sure of something else: "I'm positive that no one will believe me!"
- Story produced by Mark Hudspeth. Editor: Karen Brenner. (CBS News)
InterCaribbean Airways and Air Canada Sign Interline Agreement
InterCaribbean Airways has announced the launch of an interline agreement with Air Canada, strengthening travel connections between the Caribbean and Canada through key hubs in Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda.
The partnership expands travel options for customers seeking access between the Caribbean region and Air Canada’s extensive North American and international network.
Under the agreement, customers will be able to book connecting flights on a single ticket, enabling travellers to and from the Caribbean region to access Air Canada’s flights to Toronto, Montreal and other destinations, while also benefiting from interCaribbean Airways’ comprehensive Caribbean network.
The partnership is aimed at addressing the needs of Canada’s substantial Caribbean community, concentrated primarily in Toronto and Montreal, by offering enhanced travel options. At the same time, Canadian travellers will gain improved access to explore destinations throughout the Caribbean.
Both airlines said the agreement reflects their commitment to service quality and improved connectivity for customers travelling between the Caribbean and Canada.
InterCaribbean Airways is a privately owned airline headquartered in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
With a network spanning Georgetown in the south, Barbados to the east, Havana to the west, and Nassau to the north, interCaribbean connects 24 cities across 18 countries in the Caribbean.
Air Canada is Canada’s largest airline, serving domestic and international destinations across six continents. The airline is a founding member of the Star Alliance, providing a worldwide air transportation network.
New Radar System to be Installed at Barbados Int'l Airport
The Government of Barbados plans to install new radar and airspace management technology at Grantley Adams International Airport to help air traffic controllers manage the growing number of aircraft entering the country’s airspace.
Minister of Tourism and International Transport Ian Gooding-Edghill said the upgrade, announced during debate on the Appropriation Bill 2026 in the Barbados House of Assembly, will improve both safety and efficiency as the island experiences record airlift.
A key component of the project is a new monopulse secondary surveillance radar system valued at about $7.2 million. The equipment forms part of a broader $17 million aviation technology programme supported by the CAF Development Bank.
Chief Executive Officer of the airport, Hadley Bourne, said the radar system will allow controllers to better track aircraft and manage spacing between planes, particularly during busy periods when congestion occurs in the airspace before aircraft even land.
The Minister of Tourism said the airport, built about 40 years ago, was not designed to handle the current volume of traffic. The facility recently recorded 2.4 million passengers passing through its terminals — the highest number in its history.
The surge has created pressure on airport infrastructure, particularly during peak travel periods when multiple aircraft may be waiting for parking positions on the apron.
To address the growing demand, the government is planning the first phase of a $120 million expansion of the airport to increase capacity and improve services.
Officials say investments are also being made in equipment to improve aircraft handling and passenger processing as traffic continues to grow.
Starlink One Step Closer to Entering TCI Market
Billionaire Elon Musk’s satellite internet company Starlink is now closer to offering broadband services in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
This development follows a major regulatory shift by the Telecommunications Commission, which introduced a new licensing framework after determining that Starlink’s original application did not fit within the existing model for traditional internet service providers. After an extensive consultation process, the Commission created a new licence category, adjusted its fee structure, and approved the updated system.
Officials say the move—requiring significant legislative changes—could help address the territory’s long-standing internet challenges, particularly in underserved areas like Grand Turk. If granted final approval by Cabinet, Starlink is expected to increase competition, lower internet costs, and expand consumer access, including to U.S.-based streaming services.
The update was shared during an interview on RTC’s First Edition with Cheryl-Ann Forman on March 25, 2026, featuring Minister for Public Safety and Utilities Hon. Otis Morris and Telecommunications Commission Director General Kenva Williams.
Minister Morris explained that legislative reform was necessary to accommodate satellite providers. Existing laws did not allow for such licences, making Starlink’s October 2024 application difficult to process. The new framework now enables licences specifically for broadband services delivered via satellite.
Director General Williams noted that Starlink had initially applied under a traditional ISP category, which did not align with its low-earth orbit satellite model. This mismatch prompted the Commission to undertake a broader regulatory overhaul, including a longer consultation period to establish appropriate rules and fees.
He added that improving internet access—especially in Grand Turk—has been a priority for years. While fibre-optic infrastructure remains the long-term goal, delays in implementation led officials to explore alternative solutions like satellite connectivity after engaging with Starlink at a technology conference in Barcelona.
Addressing concerns about transparency, both officials emphasized that the process included more than a year of public consultation. Surveys conducted during that period showed strong public support for satellite-based internet services.
While Starlink is viewed as a short-term solution, the government continues to pursue long-term plans to expand fibre infrastructure across all inhabited islands, potentially creating a nationwide fibre network.
Despite the advantages, regulators say safeguards will be in place to ensure fair competition and protect existing local providers.
The Commission retains authority to monitor pricing, enforce compliance, and even revoke licences if necessary.
Regionally, Starlink already operates across several Caribbean nations, including Jamaica, The Bahamas, and Barbados, providing high-speed internet to homes, businesses, and even maritime users such as cruise ships operated by Royal Caribbean.
London clubbers' waning thirst for alcohol forces nightlife industry to get more creative
LONDON, April 10 (Reuters) - Diminishing demand for late-night drinking and rising operating costs mean London's nightclubs are having to work harder than ever to keep their doors open.
Younger generations of partygoers are demanding more than just access to after-hours alcohol, forcing clubbing venues to focus on providing an 'experience' and to reinvent themselves with daytime parties, food and live acts.
Britain's nightlife sector generated about 154 billion pounds ($206 billion) in spending last year, according to data firm CGA's Night Time Economy Market Monitor.
But the industry has been struggling for years, as changing habits, the COVID pandemic, steep increases in operating costs, tighter licensing rules and the rising cost of living for customers all took a toll.
The number of late-night venues fell 4.1% in 2025 and is now 28% below pre-pandemic levels, including new openings, CGA data showed.
Alex Guiste, a 27-year-old social media manager and frequent club-goer, said many clubs can now feel stale if they fail to adapt to growing demand for experience-led nights out, such as DJ events and live performances.
"People are going out for the music and the experience, no longer just to drink until late," he said. "Clubbing feels less routine now and more like something people savour."
COSTS RISE AS SPENDING FALLS
Don't be fooled by queues snaking outside venues in central London - club operators say survival has become increasingly difficult even when attendances hold up against the trend.
Alice Hoffmann-Fuller, who works with venues and promoters, said many clubs' business models were built around alcohol sales. But surveys show around 39% of 18- to 24-year-olds don't drink alcohol.
Corsica Studios, an electronic music venue under railway arches in south London, closed at the end of March after more than two decades at the heart of the city's clubbing scene.
"We're as busy as ever, if not busier," Matt Wickings, its programming manager, told Reuters ahead of the closure. But bar takings were as low as they had ever been, he said, while costs continued to rise.
Where they used to take 10,000 pounds or 12,000 pounds a night, the club was now generating only 6,000 to 7,000 pounds.
The venue said last September it could no longer operate in its current form and be sure of its long-term future on the site. Corsica Studios is expected to reopen at some point, though what it will offer to customers remains unclear.
EARLIER NIGHTS, DIFFERENT HABITS
Nevertheless, industry figures insist Britain's nights out are far from over -- they are simply happening at different times, in different places, and to a different soundtrack.
Several large venues have opened or expanded in London over the past two years, betting that clubbers will still turn out - as long as their changing demands are properly met.
"Nightlife is evolving, and it always has," said Kate Nicholls, chair of industry body UKHospitality.
Though drinking habits have moderated, Nicholls said demand for socialising remains strong across age groups, with many people prioritising experiences over late-night drinking.
"It's not that people have stopped going out," Guiste said. "It's that the old club model doesn't feel special anymore."
($1 = 0.7468 pounds)
Meta pulls ads aimed at recruiting plaintiffs for social media addiction lawsuits
CHICAGO, April 9 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms, opens new tab said on Thursday it is pulling ads from Facebook and Instagram aimed at recruiting new plaintiffs for ongoing litigation accusing it and other social media companies of designing their platforms to be addictive to young users.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said the company is actively defending itself against the lawsuits, which include thousands of cases in both state and federal courts in California, and is removing the ads.
“We will not allow trial lawyers to profit from our platforms while simultaneously claiming they are harmful,” Stone said in a statement.
The move follows Meta's loss in two key trials over the allegations.
At the end of March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Alphabet's Google, opens new tab liable for a young woman’s depression and suicidal thoughts after she said she became addicted to Instagram and Google's YouTube at a young age, ordering them to pay a combined $6 million in damages.
In a separate New Mexico case that wrapped up just a day earlier, jurors ordered Meta to pay $375 million after finding the company misled users about the safety of its products for young users and enabled the sexual exploitation of children on its platforms.
More than 3,300 lawsuits involving addiction claims are pending in California state court against Meta, Google, Snapchat parent Snap Inc, opens new tab and ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. Another 2,400 lawsuits brought by individuals, municipalities, states and school districts have been centralized in California federal court, according to court records.
The companies have denied the allegations and say they take extensive steps to keep teens and young users safe on their platforms.
The state court cases largely involve individuals suing the companies over claims that addiction to social media caused mental health harms. The federal litigation includes more lawsuits filed by public entities such as school districts, states and municipalities, which claim the platforms harmed the mental health of young people, forcing the government entities to spend money to address the fallout.
FINDING PLAINTIFFS
Law firms representing plaintiffs in these types of cases typically work on contingency, so they are only paid if a plaintiff wins damages or receives a settlement. Often firms in mass cases are seeking to represent as many plaintiffs as possible to make the cases financially viable. Ads on television, radio and online are aimed at recruiting individual plaintiffs, who may not know about the litigation otherwise.
Law firms such as Morgan & Morgan, which represents plaintiffs in the litigation and was part of the trial team that won the Los Angeles case, are among the firms that placed ads on Facebook.
A spokesperson for the firm didn’t respond to a request for comment about the ads being pulled.
Companies that seek to connect potential clients with law firms, such as Tennessee-based White Heart Legal, are also advertising the litigation on social media, according to X Ante, a company that tracks mass tort advertising.
White Heart Legal did not respond to a request for comment.
X Ante founder Rustin Silverstein said social media has become an increasingly popular place for advertisers seeking potential law clients in mass tort litigation, but accounts for only a portion of the ads that have been airing this year for the social media cases.
A total of 671 television ads promoting social media claims aired nationwide in March — more than in any month since July 2024, Silverstein said. The number of radio ads in March nearly tripled to 20,000 after the verdicts, he said.
There are also ads on Google’s platforms for the litigation. Social Media Victims Law Center, one of the law firms leading the wave of lawsuits, advertises on Google, according to Google records.
Google didn’t respond to a question about whether it would also be pulling the ads related to the cases.
Exclusive: Anthropic weighs building its own AI chips, sources say
SAN FRANCISCO, April 9 (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence lab Anthropic is exploring the possibility of designing its own chips, three sources said, as the company and its rivals respond to a shortage of AI chips needed to power and develop more advanced AI systems.
The plans are in early stages and the company may still decide to only buy AI chips and not design any, according to two people with knowledge of the matter and one person briefed on Anthropic's plans. The company has yet to commit to a specific design or put together a dedicated team to work on the project, one of the sources said.
A spokesperson for the San Francisco-based company declined to comment on the article.
Demand for its AI model Claude has accelerated in 2026, with the startup's run-rate revenue now surpassing $30 billion, up from about $9 billion at the end of 2025, Anthropic said earlier this week.
Anthropic uses a range of chips, including tensor processing units (TPUs) designed by Alphabet's, opens new tab Google and Amazon's chips, opens new tab to develop and run its AI software and chatbot Claude.
Earlier this week, Anthropic signed a long-term deal with Google and Broadcom, opens new tab, which helps design the TPUs. That deal builds on the company's commitment to invest $50 billion in strengthening U.S. computing infrastructure.
Anthropic's discussions mirror similar efforts underway at large tech companies that are seeking to design their own AI chips, including Meta, opens new tab and OpenAI.
Designing an advanced AI chip can cost roughly half a billion dollars, according to industry sources, as companies need to employ skilled engineers and spend to make sure the manufacturing process has no defects.
Photos show stunning views of the moon and Earth from the Artemis II mission
The Artemis II astronauts — three Americans and one Canadian — hurtled deeper into space than any other humans during a moon flyby Monday that marks NASA’s lunar comeback. They were greeted by a total solar eclipse as they became the first to gaze by eye at parts of the elusive far side of the moon, before hanging a celestial U-turn for home.
___
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Ships still aren’t going through the Strait of Hormuz. Here’s what it will take to get things going again
New York — A fragile ceasefire that’s mostly quieted the skies over the Middle East isn’t giving shippers the nerve to brave the narrow waterway that holds the key to 20% of the world’s oil supply.
The Strait of Hormuz may be officially re-opening for business, but shipping company executives and analysts told CNN uncertainty surrounding the ceasefire is still making transit too risky right now. Explicit approval and safety assurances from Iran, clear guidance on how and when to transit and a long-term view of the strait’s future are all so far missing, shippers told CNN.
Hapag-Lloyd, the fifth-largest shipping company in the world, has six container ships trapped in the strait, but it’s keeping them put for now.
“Our top priority is the safety of our employees on land and on sea. Based on our current risk assessment we are refraining from transiting the strait,” spokesman Nils Haupt said.
Word of a two-week ceasefire sent oil plunging and stocks soaring on Wednesday, a reflection of the strait’s importance to global commerce. That rally has given way to a reality check: Despite repeated assurances from President Donald Trump that the strait is open, only a few ships have made the journey in recent days. Oil, after notching double-digit declines, is again flirting with $100 a barrel.
Indeed, Lale Akoner, a global market analyst at financial services company eToro, told CNN it could take six months to get ship traffic back to where it was before the war began. More than 100 cargo-carrying vessels moved through the 21-mile-wide waterway daily before the conflict, according to shipping-data provider Lloyd’s List. That means the economic consequences of the war – higher energy costs and their varied knock-on effects – are likely to well outlast the fighting.
Here’s why: Shippers are hesitant to trust a ceasefire that’s already been shaky, especially without direction on which ships can go when. Just two oil or gas tankers have transited the Strait of Hormuz since the ceasefire was announced, according to Kpler, a data intelligence and analytics platform. Over 400 tankers, 34 LPG tankers and 19 LNG vessels remained in the region as of Wednesday, according to MarineTraffic data.
And ships don’t just need to get out – they also need to get in, so that they can load up stored-up oil that’s been trapped on land for weeks.
“Vessel operators believe it’s not worth taking the risk,” said Joe McMonigle, president of think tank Global Center for Energy Analysis and who lives in Saudi Arabia. “People are going to be extremely cautious about going back to normal.”
‘Temporary and conditional’
While other critical goods like fertilizer flow through the straight, oil is the number one priority.
“The ceasefire removes the worst-case scenario, but it’s temporary and conditional,” said eToro’s Akoner.
Behind the scenes shipping companies are trying to figure out how to get their ships out of the Persian Gulf safely.
Shipping executives say they have “no information” on how to transit the strait during the ceasefire and are not in contact with Iranian authorities, according to Sanne Manders, president of Flexport, a global shipping logistics company.
Shipping experts say Iran is still in charge of the strait – and those authorities haven’t laid out a plan for safe passage yet.
Martín Izaguirre Salgado, a seafarer who has been stuck on board his company’s oil tanker in the Persian Gulf since late February, said as of Thursday, they were still stuck.
Shippers want “explicit approval from the people that may do you harm,” said Ron Widdows, the former head of the World Shipping Council. “How that process works, who exactly is the body that’s got the authority to say, ‘Yeah, you can or not.,’”
Adding to the uncertainty, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed Thursday that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed sharply and then stopped following what it said was an Israeli ceasefire violation in Lebanon.
Getting out – and getting back in
Tankers that have been stuck in the strait for weeks aren’t the only issue.
“You also must have a willingness of empty tankers to come back in through the strait, refill and then go back out,” an oil industry source told CNN. “That whole process takes several days.”
Hapag-Lloyd, for example, has no vessels waiting to get into the waterway. “That would not make sense at all,” spokesman Haupt said.
Instead, shipping companies are “basically waiting until others test” passage, said Flexport’s Manders.
“Oil tankers and vessels of Chinese origin will likely test these waters first,” Manders said. (China is an Iranian ally.)
Iran is also now raising charging a new toll to get out of the strait.
“The IRGC has been charging ships up to $2 million per tanker to transit. Payment is accepted in Chinese yuan or cryptocurrencies, bypassing the dollar-based financial system and US sanctions,” said Manders.
Even Trump himself has floated the idea of a toll, suggesting the idea in an interview with ABC News’ Jon Karl Wednesday as part of a “joint venture” with Iran, whose civilization Trump threatened to end just a day earlier.
The strait’s future has real impacts on everyday Americans: Average gas prices are up 40%, about $1.18, per gallon since the start of the war, according to AAA. Getting gas prices back to the pre-war $3 a gallon level is still a long way off, even if oil begins to flow freely again.
“If this continues for another week or two, the consequences not just for energy prices but for the global economy are dire,” McMonigle said. “This is a very tenuous ceasefire.”