Violence in Mexico hit new heights in the first quarter of 2019, with 8,493 murders recorded from January to March, according to official figures. According to the Executive Secretariat of the Public Security National System, that number represents a 9.6% rise on the same period in 2018.
Germany's Leica Camera AG drew criticism on Chinese social media over a video depicting a news photographer covering the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square three decades ago. The five-minute dramatization, released this week, touches on a highly sensitive topic in China.
Film star Emma Thompson joined climate change activists in a central London shopping district on Friday to read poetry praising Earth's bounties, part of five days of protests which clogged the British capital with transport snarl-ups.
The heads of two major central banks have written a stark warning about the financial risks of climate change. Bank of England governor Mark Carney and France's François Villeroy de Galhau set out the dangers to the global economy in an open letter.
Pope Francis listened as a preacher denounced the widespread inequality in the world at a Good Friday service on the day Christians recall Jesus' death by crucifixion. During the Passion of the Lord service in St Peter's Basilica, songs in Latin recounted the last hours in Jesus' life, from his arrest to his burial.
Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly expects to vote on making a US$71 million bond interest payment when it meets next week, a lawmaker and a member of state-run oil company PDVSA's ad-hoc board of directors said.
Argentine experts have expressed the belief that the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation can yield more concrete steps for collaboration between China and Latin America. Members of the Asian Affairs Committee at Argentina's Council on International Relations (CARI), a leading think tank, spoke to China's government news agency Xinhua in the lead-up to the forum.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will host nearly 40 heads of state next week at the second Belt and Road forum, which is expected to produce more deals for companies and banks that want in on the latter-day Silk Road mega-project. The strong showing is a testament to the project's standing despite its multiple criticisms, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday.
Peru's late former president Alan Garcia left a suicide note denying the corruption charges against him before taking his own life, one of his children revealed on Friday. Garcia, who was 69, died on Wednesday after shooting himself in the head when police came to his home to arrest him over allegations of money laundering during his time in office.
Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaidó called on Friday for the biggest demonstration in history to put pressure on President Nicolas Maduro to step down. The National Assembly head launched a challenge to Maduro's authority in January, declaring himself acting president.