Rising Costs and Weak Demand Force a Wave of Restaurant Closures

President Nasry Asfura will attend the August 7 inauguration of Colombia's Abelardo de la Espriella in Cali, joining Spain's King Felipe VI and eight other heads of state.

The national utility ENEE will shut off power on August 4 in neighborhoods across Yoro, Cortés, Santa Bárbara, Copán and Ocotepeque for scheduled maintenance on electrical circuits, with outages lasting four to six hours depending on the zone.

A severe drought tied to El Niño has killed more than 200 cattle, destroyed grain harvests and sharply cut milk and meat production in major farming regions, with grain losses estimated at 2 to 3 million quintals (about 90,000 to 135,000 metric tons) of corn and beans.

Honduras's Education Ministry is enforcing an existing ban on reggaeton and trap-corridos during the September 15 independence celebrations, requiring student bands to play only civic-themed music, a move that has divided school directors and residents in San Pedro Sula.

Honduras's FVS VAR system lost its signal during a national-league match on August 2, holding up play for seven to eight minutes to review a goal by Estrella Roja's Óscar Rosales that was ultimately disallowed for offside.

Referee Jefferson Escobar disallowed Juticalpa's opening goal against Motagua in the first round of the Honduran league tournament on August 2, ruling that forward Jairo Róchez fouled goalkeeper Luis Ortiz, a call that drew debate after replays showed minimal contact.

Brayan Omar Sánchez, a 26-year-old from Juticalpa who says a pending habeas corpus case should have blocked his deportation, says he was shackled and flown without warning to the Central African Republic, where he now lives in a hotel with no water or electricity and suffers health problems from the unfamiliar climate.

Also reported by: Radio HRN

Intelligence reports say the Coleman organization, which works for the Sinaloa cartel, controls maritime drug-smuggling routes at Puerto Cortés; one member was arrested during Operation Mare Nostrum on August 3, but leader Luis Felipe Aguilera Coleman escaped.

Surveillance video captured a driver speeding just seconds before crashing into the wall of a home in San Pedro Sula.

Joshua Núñez, a player for FC La Familia in Santa Rita, died Saturday night when his motorcycle collided with a bus on the highway between Santa Rita and El Progreso.

A motorcyclist died and a female passenger was seriously injured when the speeding bike ran off the road and crashed into a house in the Villa Nueva neighborhood on August 2.

A gunfight between officers from Metropolitan Prevention Unit 8 and suspected gang members in the Cerrito Lindo neighborhood left one person dead, five arrested and two officers wounded during an operation against criminal groups.