Peru

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In Andean Bullrings, Bulls Fight ... Condors

Annual tradition pits heaven against earth

(Newser) - If you thought humans against bulls was an alarming tradition, check out how they do it in Peru: condors against bulls. The cross-species fight is part of an annual Andean festival known as the Yawar Fiesta, or Blood Festival, in which wild condors are tied to the bulls' backs, then...

Ancient Pyramid Torn Down by Developers: Peru

Firms face criminal charges

(Newser) - Peruvian authorities say a pair of real-estate developers have ruined a 4,000-year-old pyramid, and they're facing criminal charges, the BBC reports. "Irreparable damage" was done to the 20-foot-high pyramid, says an archeologist. The El Paraiso complex, near Lima, had 12 pyramids; the companies tried to tear down...

Big Peru Find: Royal Tomb That Hasn't Been Looted

63 bodies, vast trove of artifacts inside

(Newser) - South America's first empire was the work of the Wari people, who built it between 700 and 1,000 AD. And archeologists have just brought us closer to their world: For the first time, researchers have discovered a Wari royal tomb that hasn't been looted, National Geographic reports....

Joran Van der Sloot Is Getting Married

Conjugal visitor to wed convicted killer

(Newser) - Well, it's official: There really is someone for everyone, even literal lady killer Joran Van der Sloot. The convicted killer and alleged extortionist intends to get married next month in the Peruvian prison where he's serving a 28-year sentence, his lawyer, Maximo Altez, has announced. "He wants...

Supermarket Tussle Turns Into Diplomatic Incident in Peru

Ecuador's ambassador removed after fight with women

(Newser) - A brief dust-up at a Peruvian supermarket has become an international incident. Ecuador's ambassador to the country squabbled with women in line, resulting in an exchange of blows. It all began when the women skipped in front of Rodrigo Riofrio in line, say a mother and daughter, per Peruvian...

2 Still Missing After Balloon Crashes Into Pacific

5 women rescued off Peru coast

(Newser) - A hot-air tourist balloon carrying seven people in Peru fell into the Pacific Ocean yesterday, and authorities say they have rescued five women while the craft's pilot and another man remain missing. An official says none of the people on the flight were wearing life jackets. Members of the...

Andean Ice That Solidified Over 1,600 Years Melted in 25

Quelccaya ice cap melt reviewed in new paper

(Newser) - The Quelccaya ice cap sits 18,000 feet above sea level, high in the Peruvian Andes, where it earns the title of world's largest tropical ice sheet. But its size is diminishing, and a team of glaciologists have come to a dramatic conclusion about the recent melting. In a...

Peru Proves Missing Couple Are Safe, Gives Them Booze

'I may delete my Facebook,' writes Jamie Neal about the fuss over her 'disappearance'

(Newser) - Garrett Hand's mother can rest easy: After vanishing for more than a month while on a biking trip in Peru, her son has turned up alive. The simple explanation, which Hand and girlfriend Jamie Neal posted to Facebook on Wednesday: They were traveling through Amazon villages that had no...

Peru: Missing Calif. Couple Alive, Having a Blast

Pair in 'remote, paradise-like' Amazon region

(Newser) - A young American couple reported missing in Peru are alive and having the time of their lives, according to Peruvian authorities. The country's tourism minister says Jamie Neal and Garrett Hand are currently on a small boat heading up a jungle river in a "remote, paradise-like region,"...

California Couple Go Missing on Peru Bike Trip

News comes amid kidnapping warning

(Newser) - A young couple from California who were cycling in Peru haven't been heard from since Jan. 25, a disappearance that was followed by a Feb. 13 warning from the US embassy in Lima of kidnapping danger near the cities of Cusco and Macchu Picchu, Reuters reports. Jamie Neal and...

Shamans in Peru: Obama's Got It

But astrologers say Mercury Retrograde could make things messy

(Newser) - Forget the pundits and statisticians : To find out who's really going to win the election, some are turning to shamans and psychics. In Peru, shamans have called a winner: President Obama. They came to the conclusion after chewing coca leaves, drinking a hallucinogenic brew called ayahuasca, and putting flower...

16K Dried Seahorses Seized in Peru

Police seize cache destined for Asia

(Newser) - Some 16,000 dried seahorses have been seized in Lima, Peru. The endangered creatures were destined for Asian markets, where powdered seahorses are used in folk medicine in China, Japan, and elsewhere to treat various ailments and as an aphrodisiac. The illegal cache could have fetched up to $250,000,...

Van der Sloot Asks Court to Overturn His Sentence

And rumor has it he's getting married

(Newser) - Rumor has it that Joran Van der Sloot is quite the lady killer—and we don't just mean that he kills ladies. Peruvian tabloids have reported that Van der Sloot is engaged to an unidentified woman, and intends to get married while in prison, the Daily Beast reports. The...

South American Superhero Makes ... $160 a Month

Meet Lima, Peru's Superman, Avelino Chavez

(Newser) - If crime doesn't pay, then fighting crime doesn't, either. Lima's own resident superhero makes just $160 a month—though, to be fair, he's not known for making daring rescues. Instead, Avelino Chavez dons Superman garb every day to appear at notable weddings and political rallies; he...

14 Dead in Peru Mountain 'Copter Crash

Wreckage, bodies found at 16K feet

(Newser) - The crashed remains of a helicopter that had gone missing was found yesterday in Peru, 16,000 feet up a mountain, reports the BBC . All 14 on board are dead. The helicopter, which went missing after leaving the western Amazon on Wednesday, apparently "crashed and exploded," says a...

Skulls Buried in Florida Backyard Date to 1200 AD

Investigators have no idea how Inca skulls got there

(Newser) - Police in Florida investigating two skulls found in a backyard say that while they definitely have a mystery on their hands, they're not looking for a killer. That's because investigators have determined that the skulls belong to a man and a 10-year-old boy who died in Peru as...

Peru: Climate Change Behind Dead Animals?

Dead dolphins, birds could have been affected by warming waters

(Newser) - Peru may finally have an answer for the 5,000 birds and nearly 900 dolphins that have died on its northern coast: climate change. As waters warm, food supply is disrupted, says the country’s deputy environment minister. A weather expert also confirms warmer waters due to El Niño...

Peru: Steer Clear of Beach Til We Solve Animal Mystery

Government claims virus, starvation likely causes of dolphin, bird deaths

(Newser) - Peru insists that the hundreds of dead dolphins that have washed up on its coast are not related to the hundreds of dead seabirds that also recently began turning up. But no definitive cause has yet been released, three months after the government started testing the dolphins, and some are...

Mystery Deepens as 500 Pelicans Die in Peru

Deaths in same area as mass dolphin die-off

(Newser) - More dead sea creatures are turning up on the shores of Peru. Over the past several days, 538 pelicans, 54 boobies, five sea lions, and a turtle have been found along a 40-mile stretch of coast, reports the BBC . The animals apparently died on the beach, and not at sea,...

Is War on Drugs Bad for Chocolate?

Gourmands fight for native Peruvian cocoa

(Newser) - To cut down on production of the coca plants behind cocaine, the US has pushed an alternative crop to Peruvian farmers: a high-yielding cocoa hybrid. And while CCN-51 has had commercial benefits, there's one problem, chocolate experts say—it just doesn't taste that good. Instead, these connoisseurs say,...

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