Some 30 countries around the world have already legalised gay marriage, but just a handful of them are in Latin America. They include Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and now Chile can be added to that list. People there celebrated this week as the Chilean Congress voted to legalise same-sex marriage and adoption. The decision now needs to be signed by the president, who backs the law.
Meanwhile, hope for migrants trying to reach the United States was shattered this week as the US resumed a Trump-era programme to send them back to Mexico. President Joe Biden had tried to end the policy as part of a more humanitarian approach to migration. But federal courts ordered a reboot of the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols, which require asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for US immigration hearings. That comes in stark contrast to the joy seen at the border between Mexico and California since it was reopened to fully vaccinated people last month.
Finally, a difficult harvest last spring means the world could now be facing a dramatic shortage of maple syrup. But fear not! The Canadian province of Quebec has the world's only strategic reserve of everyone's favourite pancake topping. It's now releasing more than half of that stock, in order to avoid what might have been a very sticky situation.
