Apple today provided developers with the fourth betas of upcoming watchOS 26.5, tvOS 26.5, and visionOS 26.5 betas for testing purposes. The software comes a week after Apple released the third betas for each platform.
The software updates are available through the Settings app on each device, and because these are developer betas, a free developer account is required.
There's no word on what's in the software as of yet. watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS often get few features in each new beta, with updates primarily focusing on bug fixes and performance improvements. Nothing new was found in the first three betas.
Apple's MacBook Neo has recently been struck by delayed delivery estimates on Apple.com, due to the notebook's booming popularity. However, both Walmart and Amazon offer deliveries as soon as tomorrow, and even feature small discounts on the Neo.
Following its launch in March, the MacBook Neo has become a big hit for Apple, with the company struggling to keep the computer in stock online and in Apple stores. As of writing, Apple.com quotes a 2-3 week delivery estimate on every model of the Neo in the U.S. and many other countries.
If you want to prioritize saving a bit of money, Amazon has every model of the MacBook Neo for $9 off this week. Free delivery options place the Neo arriving as soon as May 2, while Prime members can get same-day shipping on the 256GB models in many locations.
Over at Walmart, you won't find any discounts, but you will find similarly quick delivery estimates. Select locations should see delivery estimates as soon as April 28 through April 29 on every model of the MacBook Neo. If you have Walmart+ instead of Amazon Prime, this could be a better option despite the lack of a straight cash discount.
The MacBook Neo is Apple's low-cost Mac, priced at $599 for the 256GB model and $699 for the 512GB model with Touch ID. Students can get the computer for even cheaper at $499 through Apple's education store on its website.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Apple has decided to market two of its new products over the next year as "Ultra" devices, Macworld reports.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the report claims that Apple's first foldable iPhone will be called the "iPhone Ultra." The device will become the highest end option in the lineup.
The iPhone Ultra will not be considered part of the iPhone 18 iPhone lineup, despite arriving alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. This would be just like how the iPhone Air is not considered to be part of the iPhone 17 series. Although Apple is hoping to ship the iPhone Ultra alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, it may launch a few weeks later and with scarcer availability.
Moreover, Apple is apparently planning to release a "MacBook Ultra" later this year or in early 2027. It will feature an OLED panel and a touchscreen, sitting above the MacBook Pro in the lineup at a "significantly" higher price point. While the device was originally intended to launch later this year, it is now likely pushed back by several months due to memory supply chain shortages.
Apple already offers M-series Ultra chips, the Apple Watch Ultra, and CarPlay Ultra. "Ultra" branding for the foldable iPhone and OLED MacBook was previously rumored by Bloomberg, which added that "AirPods Ultra" could also be on the way.
A bus damaged by the huge explosion on Saturday 30kms north of Popayán. Photo: X
A bomb attack attributed to fighters from the EMC armed group killed 20 travelers trapped on the busy highway connecting Colombia’s southwestern cities on Saturday.
The tragic events in the El Tunel sector, close to the town of Cajibío, unfolded after the dissidents mounted a checkpoint on the main Via Panamericana south of Cali and 30 kilometers (20 miles) before Popayán.
The busy road runs through a mountainous region dominated by gangs run by the former guerrillas dedicated to a booming cocaine industry in hidden canyons beyond state control. At the illegal checkpoint the fighters forced truck drivers to block the road and abandon their vehicles, causing a long queue of traffic.
According to video posted online, soon after a midday the huge explosion rocked the valley mangling around 15 vehicles caught blockade including two minibuses with civilian passengers.
The governor of Cauca, Octavio Guzmán, confirmed the 20 dead civilians caught in the blast were 15 women and five men, all adults. A further 47 people were injured, of whom three were critical. Five children were recovering in hospital. Eleven of the affected persons came from the same village of Pedregosa, close to Cajibío, he added.
“What happened on April 25th constitutes the most brutal and ruthless attack against the civilian population in decades in the department of Cauca,” the governor later announced.
The bomb had displaced 200 cubic meters of soil, he said, creating a crater five meters deep in the Panamericana highway, the main route linking Cali to Popayan and on to Ecuador. Despite the damage, road crews were able to partially reopen the road six hours after the blast.
Saturday’s attack, one of the worst atrocities in recent years, comes against a background of rising conflict between state forces and dissident armed groups in the southwest of Colombia.
A nuestro medio de comunicación llega video #PRIMICIA del momento exacto donde explota el artefacto explosivo en el sector conocido como el TÚNEL CAJIBIO CAUCA entre popayan y piendamo @Noti90Minutos@DELAESPRIELLAE
Just in the last four days communities across three departments – Valle, Cauca and Nariño – reported a series of what appear to be coordinated attacks against civilian and military targets. These included:
24 April – A bus bomb exploded close to base of the Pichincha Battalion in the south of Cali, causing damage and three injuries.
24 April – In the nearby town of Palmira, Valle, an army base came under attack from cylinder bombs launched from a passing vehicle, no injuries were reported.
25 April – Two attackers launched grenades at a petrol station in Rozo, Valle, damaging vehicles.
25 April – A police station in the rural community of Potrerito, close to Jamundí, came under gunfire attack in the early hours of the morning.
25 April – In another morning attack, Aeronáutica Civil reported drones launching explosives against a hilltop air traffic station close to El Tambo (Cauca), damaging antennas and leaving the radar inoperative.
25 April – a chiva rural bus was hit by explosive charges while traveling on Route 25 near to Mercaderes, south of Popayan. Police reported several injured including a child but no deaths
26 April – four men were gunned down in a bar in Toro, Valle, between Cali and Pereira.
According to a tally by thinktank Indepaz, the Toro deaths were the 48th massacre recorded in 2026. In Colombia a ‘massacre’ is defined by the intentional killing of three or more people at the same time.
This weekend’s attacks were typical of a return to terrorist tactics such as car bombs, motorbike bombs, drones dropping home-made explosives and other artisanal artefacts.
Cauca governor Octavio Guzmán visiting the scent of the explosion this weekend. Photo: Social Media
Saturday’s Cajibío attack was initially reported as a boobytrap bomb, or “IED” (Improvised Explosive Device) which are caches of high explosives buried by the roadside by rebel groups, usually aimed at passing military patrols
But later reports suggested the civilian vehicles were struck by a pipeta mortar. These are fashioned from household gas bottles and clumsily launched from mortars made of industrial piping.
Notoriously inaccurate, a pipetas have claimed many civilian lives in the Colombian conflict, most notably in the Chocó town of Bojayá in 2002 when a charge launched by FARC guerrillas struck a church killing 79 civilians sheltering inside.
Behind Saturday’s atrocity was alias ‘Marlon’ of the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), said Colombia’s defence minister of defence Pedro Sanchez. The state offered a reward of US$140,000 for information leading to his capture.
Original dissidents
Most Wanted…
Marlon, whose real name is Iván Idrobo, was formerly in the ranks of the FARC guerrillas where he trained as a bomb maker. He is now thought to lead the EMC’s Frente Jaime Martínez which according to the Defensoria del Pueblo controls the cocaine trade, illegal gold mining and extortion rackets around the town of Suárez in the northwest of Cauca.
The EMC, lead by former FARC chief Iván Mordico, has proven to be the most intransigent of the myriad of armed groups which the current Petro government has tried to broker peace with under his controversial Paz Total policy.
Seen as the “original” dissidents that rejected the partly successful peace process under former president Manual Santos in 2016, the EMC initially agreed to negotiate when Gustavo Petro came to power in 2022 but soon engaged in bitter infighting with rival armed groups creating a rupture with Paz Total.
For his part, Petro tweeted his disgust at the Cajibío attack and the EMC “narco-terrorists” behind it.
“The groups led by Iván Mordisco in Cauca are criminals who have committed crimes against humanity and must be treated as such,” he said.
Some pundits commented that Petro’s early treatment of the EMC as a political actor had given the armed group room to expand, contributing to the current security crisis. In the heat of next month’s elections, others turned their ire on presidential candidate Iván Cepeda, seen as an architect of Petro’s struggling peace plans.
Rival right-wing candidate Paloma Valencia accused Cepeda of his role in “tying the hands of state forces, the rampant increase in illicit crops, the historic numbers of massacres, and waves of violence like today’s”.
Valencia also rounded on Petro for posting photos of his birthday celebrations even as the country was reeling from the horrific footage of the Cauca bombing. “Show some respect,” she messaged.
Apple today released a YouTube Short revealing a rare behind-the-scenes look at the making of its playful MacBook Neo introduction video.
The short clip gives what Apple describes as "a peek at some handmade magic," revealing the physical models and camera techniques used during production. Apple shows how real-world props were combined with visual effects to produce the final sequences. Apple does not usually share production insights for a major product launch videos.
The MacBook Neo launched in March at $599, and its introductory video was widely noted for its whimsey and charm. The MacBook Neo itself has proven to be very strong seller since its launch; Apple reportedly broke a Mac launch week record in the weeks following its debut, and the device has since sold out of inventory until the middle of next month.
While the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro were just updated with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips last month, bigger changes are reportedly around the corner.
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the higher-end MacBook Pro models will be receiving a major redesign by early 2027, and he said that Apple might use "MacBook Ultra" branding for them. If so, the MacBook Ultra would likely be a higher-priced model at the top of the MacBook lineup, sitting above the MacBook Pro entirely.
Up to six new features have been rumored so far, including an OLED display, touch capabilities, a Dynamic Island, M6 Pro and M6 Max chips manufactured with TSMC's advanced 2nm process, a thinner design, and built-in cellular connectivity.
Keep in mind that the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M6 chip is not expected to receive many of the changes listed below.
Apple last redesigned the MacBook Pro in 2021, when the M1 Pro and M1 Max models launched, so the MacBook Ultra would represent the first major redesign in at least five years and is a model that many customers are holding out for.
Below, we recap rumored MacBook Ultra features.
OLED Display
Regardless of whether Apple uses MacBook Pro or MacBook Ultra branding, it is widely expected that these will be the first MacBooks with OLED displays.
The current MacBook Pro models are equipped with LCD displays with mini-LED backlighting. The move to OLED technology would result in improved image quality, thanks to richer colors and higher contrast ratio with true blacks.
All of the iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad Pro models that Apple sells today are already equipped with OLED displays, excluding refurbished models.
Touch Screen
Not only will the MacBook Ultra be moving to OLED, but the display will apparently have touch-screen capabilities too. This functionality would allow Mac users to use both their fingers and a keyboard and mouse/trackpad for input.
Steve Jobs said that a touch-screen Mac would cause arm fatigue, but he made that comment a long time ago, and Apple does reverse course from time to time.
Dynamic Island
Yet another display-related change rumored for the MacBook Ultra is a hole-punch camera, and this will pave the way for a Dynamic Island instead of a notch.
With a Dynamic Island, the MacBook Ultra would be another step towards a truly edge-to-edge display with thin bezels. Like on the iPhone, the Dynamic Island would display things such as low battery life alerts and AirPods connection indicators in the area surrounding the camera at the top-center part of the screen.
M6 Pro and M6 Max Chips
This one is obvious, but the MacBook Ultra is expected to be powered by Apple's next-generation M6 Pro and M6 Max chips. Notably, these chips are expected to be manufactured with TSMC's advanced 2nm process, which should result in greater year-over-year performance and efficiency gains than usual.
The current M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are built with TSMC's third-generation 3nm process.
Thinner Design
MacBook Ultra is expected to have a thinner design compared to the MacBook Pro.
The move from LCD with mini-LED backlighting to OLED would contribute to the thinner design, and there could be other changes that help to slim things down.
As of now, there has been no indication that Apple plans to once again remove ports like HDMI, MagSafe, or the SD card slot in order to achieve this thinner design, but we shall see. That was a very unpopular decision the last time it happened.
Cellular
Macs can already connect to a cellular network via the Personal Hotspot feature on a nearby iPhone or iPad, but Apple has reportedly at least considered built-in cellular connectivity for future Macs. If these plans moved forward, the MacBook Ultra would likely be equipped with Apple's C1X or future C2 modem for 5G and LTE.
Apple is finally planning to release The Savant, an Apple TV series that it delayed following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
The Savant is set to air in July 2026, according to Variety. The Apple TV show was supposed to come out on Friday, September 26, 2025, but Apple decided not to release it due to the topic and the political climate.
When the series was pulled, star Jessica Chastain said that she was "not aligned" with Apple's decision.
I want to say how much I value my partnership with Apple. They've been incredible collaborators and I deeply respect their team. That said, I wanted to reach out and let you know that we're not aligned on the decision to pause the release of The Savant.
In the last five years since we've been making the show, we've seen an unfortunate amount of violence in the United States: the kidnapping attempt on Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer; the January 6th attack on the Capitol; the assassination attempts on President Trump; the political assassinations of Democratic representatives in Minnesota; the attack on Speaker Pelosi's husband; the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk; the recent shooting at an ABC affiliate station in California; and over 300 school shootings across this country.
These incidents, though far from encompassing the full range of violence witnessed in the United States, illustrate a broader mindset that crosses the political spectrum and must be confronted. I've never shied away from difficult subjects, and while I wish this show wasn't so relevant, unfortunately it is.
The Savant is about the heroes who work every day to stop violence before it happens, and honoring their courage feels more urgent than ever. While I respect Apple's decision to pause the release for now, I remain hopeful the show will reach audiences soon. Until then, I'm wishing safety and strength for everyone, and I'll let you know if and when The Savant is released.
Chastain told Variety this weekend that she originally wasn't sure if the show would come out at all, but now she has received confirmation that it will be released. "We're going to see it," she said.
The Savant is a political thriller featuring Chastain as a woman who works undercover on the dark web to infiltrate online hate groups to prevent large-scale public attacks.
The July timing for The Savant has not yet been confirmed by Apple.
Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman recently followed up with a shot on iPhone video of an "Earthset," or the moment that the Earth disappears behind the Moon. The video was captured from the docking hatch window on the Orion capsule, and it is the first Earthset shot on a mobile device.
Only one chance in this lifetime…
Like watching sunset at the beach from the most foreign seat in the cosmos, I couldn’t resist a cell phone video of Earthset. You can hear the shutter on the Nikon as @Astro_Christina is hammering away on 3-shot brackets and capturing those… pic.twitter.com/8aWnaFJ69c
It takes a second for the iPhone to focus as Wiseman switches to 8x zoom mode on his iPhone 17 Pro Max, but the rest of the 53-second video features a clear look at the craters on the Moon as the Earth slips out of sight.
Wiseman said that at 8x zoom, the view was "quite comparable to the view of the human eye."
Apple today provided developers with the third betas of upcoming watchOS 26.5, tvOS 26.5, and visionOS 26.5 betas for testing purposes. The software comes a week after Apple released the second betas for each platform.
The software updates are available through the Settings app on each device, and because these are developer betas, a free developer account is required.
There's no word on what's in the software as of yet. watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS often get few features in each new beta, with updates primarily focusing on bug fixes and performance improvements. Nothing new was found in the first two betas.
Apple retail locations and Apple Authorized Service Providers will soon be able to restore Apple Watch software in-store without needing to send an Apple Watch to a service center, according to a retail source that spoke to MacRumors.
Right now, Apple Watches that can't be restored using an iPhone need to be mailed to an Apple Repair Center for service. There is no in-store repair option, so customers have to wait for the Apple Watch to be shipped to the repair depot, get repaired, and be shipped back.
Starting later this month, Apple Stores and AASPs will be able to use an Apple Watch repair dock that connects to a Mac to restore the software on an Apple Watch. An in-store option for fixing software will make software-based repairs much quicker.
With watchOS 8.5 and iOS 15.4, Apple introduced an iPhone-based wireless restore option, but it is limited. It can only be used when a restore prompt is shown on the Apple Watch. For software issues where the iPhone restore doesn't work, the Apple Watch needs a specialized repair currently unavailable in retail stores. Failed updates, bricked devices, and boot loops can't be fixed with an iPhone.
Early Apple Watch models had a diagnostic port that Apple Stores could use for software fixes, but it was removed with the Apple Watch Series 7, and Apple switched to a wireless restoration process. After the port was dropped, Apple Watch software repairs had to be done at Apple Service Centers, making software-based failures a hassle for customers.
According to the latest rumors, Apple is close to launching its next-generation iPad mini. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out.
Processor and Performance
Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to information found in code that Apple mistakenly shared in August.
Apple's A19 Pro chip since debuted in the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. The iPhone 17 Pro models include the higher-end version of Apple's A19 Pro chip with a 6-core CPU and a 6-core GPU, while the iPhone Air uses a mid-tier A19 Pro chip with one fewer GPU core than the A19 Pro chip used in the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.
If the code leak is accurate for the iPad mini 8, Apple is likely to use the mid-tier A19 Pro chip found in the iPhone Air. This is based on the fact that the A17 Pro chip used in the iPad mini 7 has a 6-core CPU with two high-performance cores and four efficiency cores, along with a 5-core GPU, compared to the 6-core GPU found on the A17 Pro used in the iPhone 15 Pro.
Apple built the A19 Pro chip on an upgraded third-generation 3-nanometer N3P process for modest speed and efficiency improvements. The chip includes a 16-core Neural Engine, next-generation dynamic caching, and unified image compression.
The GPU in the A19 Pro has an upgraded architecture with a larger cache, more memory, and Neural Accelerators that are built into each core. Apple says that this change provides 3× the peak GPU compute over the prior-generation chip. There's also an upgraded 16-core Neural Engine for AI tasks.
There is an outside chance that Apple opts for the A20 Pro chip for the new iPad mini. The claim has been made by a MacRumors tipster who analyzed a macOS kernel debug kit containing internal Apple codenames. However, the iPad mini has not always received Apple's newest A-series chip at the time it was updated, so the A19 Pro cannot be ruled out at this time. iPhone 18 Pro models are also expected to use the A20 Pro chip, which will reportedly be fabricated with TSMC's advanced 2nm process.
Display
Apple's plan to transition the iPad mini from an LCD to an OLED display is widely rumored. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the small form-factor tablet is likely to be the next Apple device to adopt OLED. According to a Chinese leaker with sources in Apple's supply chain, Apple has evaluated a Samsung-made OLED display for its next iPad mini model.
It remains unclear whether the iPad mini 8 will feature a higher refresh rate than the 60Hz LCD display used in the existing iPad mini 7, but since the new base iPhone 17 now uses a 120Hz ProMotion panel, it would be reasonable to expect the same on the first OLED iPad mini. A separate report has suggested the iPad mini 8's screen could increase in size from 8.3 inches to 8.7 inches with the adoption of OLED.
OLED panels can individually control each pixel, resulting in more precise color reproduction and deeper blacks compared to other common display technologies. They also provide superior contrast, faster response times, better viewing angles, and greater design flexibility. All of Apple's flagship iPhones use OLED panels, and in May 2024 the company brought the display technology to the iPad Pro for the first time.
Unlike Apple's iPad Pro models, which feature two-stack low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) OLED panels, the iPad mini may have a single-stack low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) panel, which would make it dimmer.
Chassis Design
Apple is reportedly working to give the iPad mini 8 a more water-resistant design, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The updated casing would bring protection levels closer to those of the iPhone, making the tablet safer for use in damp environments.
To achieve this, Apple is said to have designed a new vibration-based speaker system that eliminates the need for traditional speaker holes. By using sound-emitting surfaces instead of open grilles, the company can reduce potential entry points for water and dust, resulting in a more sealed, durable enclosure.
On the iPhone, Apple relies on adhesives and gaskets to shield speakers and other openings from moisture. The iPad mini's approach appears to go further, doing away with the holes altogether. Current iPad mini models lack any official IP rating, but the upcoming version could mark the first in the lineup to feature a certified level of water protection.
Apple patents could offer further clues to the new design direction. For example, a 2014 patent outlines a "mechanically actuated panel acoustic system" that vibrates flat surfaces to generate sound, effectively turning parts of a device's chassis into a speaker diaphragm. This could potentially allow Apple to produce audio without visible speaker holes. The patent suggest Apple has been building towards a sealed, vibration-based acoustic system for several years.
Release Date
According to research firm Omdia, the iPad mini is expected to adopt an OLED display in 2027. However, Korea's ET News and ZDNET Korea have both suggested that the iPad mini will be updated with an OLED display in 2026. Bloomberg has also said the update could come as soon as this year.
The most recent word on the subject comes from Weibo-based leaker Instant Digital, who claims the OLED iPad mini will be launched in the second half of 2026 at the earliest.
In May 2024, it was reported that Samsung Display had started developing sample OLED panels for a future iPad mini, with plans to initiate mass production at its facility in Cheonan in the second half of 2025. The same report claimed that Apple will bring an OLED panel to the iPad Air alongside the iPad mini in 2026, though Apple only refreshed the iPad Air in March, and more recent reporting suggests an OLED iPad Air will arrive in early 2027.
The latter outlook aligns with a December report by analyst firm Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) that said an 8.5-inch OLED iPad mini is planned for a 2026 launch, while 11-inch and 13-inch OLED iPad Air models are expected to follow in 2027.
Ultimately, there are no rumors suggesting exactly when the next iPad mini will be released, but a launch later in 2026 has a high probability.
Pricing
Apple's iPad mini with OLED display technology and improved water resistance is expected to be more expensive, and Apple could charge up to $100 more for the device, according to Bloomberg's Gurman. The iPad mini is currently priced starting at $499. Gurman has previously argued that Apple should consider a lower-end version of the mini, or at least a change to its current $499 starting price, given that it's up against rival products that cost a lot less.
However, Apple users who are looking for a more affordable option should probably consider the 10th-generation iPad instead. Starting at $329, the iPad offers many iPad mini features, such as Touch ID and Center Stage, but at a lower price that balances functionality and affordability.
La Mesa gang rounded up in Bogotá last week. Members are accused of murders and drug trafficking. Photo: Secretary of Security
The dismantling of a major crime gang which operated in Bogotá caused controversy last week after it emerged its leader was declared a peace negotiator under President Petro’s controversial Paz Total, or Total Peace, plan.
National police rounded up 23 members of the La Mesa gang in simultaneous operations in Tolima, Cesar and Bogotá. According to police reports, the gang was involved in serious crimes across the capital since 2012, including drug trafficking and murders.
News of the arrests was tainted by the fact that under the Paz Total process – the Petro government’s wide-ranging negotiations with armed groups – gang leader Gustavo Adolfo Pérez Peña, alias El Montañero, had his arrest warrant suspended under his role as gestor de paz, or ‘peace facilitator’.
The kingpin’s release sparked a furious response from Bogotá mayor Carlos Galán, who accused Petro of undermining the city’s efforts to curb crime.
Hoy en Bogotá anunciamos que, gracias a la Dijín, a la Fiscalía y a la @PoliciaBogota, fueron capturados 23 miembros de la banda “El Mesa”, entre ellos 8 sicarios. Mientras tanto, el Gobierno Nacional nombra al cabecilla de esa banda como gestor de paz y le levantó la orden de… pic.twitter.com/qiSmSoHgh7
“While in Bogotá,…the prosecutor’s office and the police, with the support of the Bogotá mayor’s office, are working to capture and dismantle a criminal gang dedicated to serious crimes, the national government appoints the leader of that gang as a peace facilitator and lifts the arrest warrant for him,” he railed.
The gang was also suspected of being behind last year’s gruesome killings where pieces of the bodies of victims were wrapped in plastic bags and dumped on the city’s highways.
A free pass for career criminals like Pérez Peña makes fighting crime “incredibly difficult,” added Galán.
Dodging a warrant
Alias El Montañero during his capture in 2019.
Details of La Mesa’s criminal activities released by the prosecutor’s office this week showed the gang originated in Bello, Antioquia, but spread to Bogotá in 2012.
Court documents reported in local news outlet El Colombiano paint Pérez Peña as a hardened criminal; he has been imprisoned four times, including for armed robbery, homicide and illegal possession of firearms, but was freed before serving his full sentences.
His rap sheet includes attacks on armored trucks, notably a cash heist in Bogotá in 2003 where a policeman was shot dead.
Pérez Peña’s most recent jailing was in 2019 when he was sentenced to eight years for conspiracy to commit a crime and illegal possession of firearms. It was during this stint that he was freed as a peace facilitator.
And even while the La Mesa gang has been rounded up this week with members facing multiple charges and long prison sentences, its leader and founder continues at liberty.
Get out of jail free?
Inclusion of criminal gangs in the Paz Total process has proved one of the thorniest aspects of Petro’s flagship policies and a political hot potato in the run-up to next month’s presidential elections.
Since its inception in 2022, the government’s peace negotiators have tried to include some of Colombia’s most embedded crime dynasties under the acronym Estructuras Armadas Organizadas del Crimen de Alto Impacto (EAOCAI).
This Paz Urbana, or urban peace, initiative is based on the reality that in Colombia today lines are blurred between organized armed groups and engrained criminal structures. Much of its effort has focused on Antioquia’s Valle de Aburrá, around Medellín, where many crime gangs took root after the fragmentation of the 1980s cocaine cartels.
The president’s office recently declared the process a partial success, claiming that the nominated peace spokespersons – many feared capos with violent histories – were now in a dialogue process which could “prevent further violence and prevent the resurgence of these structures”.
Many critics have predicted that – similar to the Paz Total process with large guerrilla groups – criminal gangs will leverage the negotiations to their own interests to gain time and territory or a get-out-of-jail-free card.
This week Medellín’s mayor Fico Gutíerez welcomed a resolution by the attorney general’s office to overturn many of the 23 nominations of local crime bosses as peace facilitators.
“The resolution removes 16 criminals currently serving sentences for serious crimes from the program. Seven remain eligible for the benefit,” he posted on X.
He also echoed Galán’s complaint that hardened criminals were being included in the peace process. “It is unacceptable that the Petro government has asked the prosecutor’s office to lift the current arrest warrant for homicide.”
Peace as a right
Defenders of Petro’s agenda hit back reminding that Paz Urbana was part of a constitutional process protected by Colombian law.
“Peace is a right, not a political strategy,” said Isabel Zuleta, a senator and key player in the Paz Total process.
The senator, who represents the government at the negotiating table with representatives of criminal gangs, accused the media and politicians of misreporting the negotiations.
“For nearly three years, a serious path toward de-escalating urban violence in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley has been painstakingly forged. Today, that work is being exploited by right-wing sectors that prefer to sabotage urban peace rather than acknowledge progress that is not electorally advantageous to them,” she said.
Zuleta also pointed out suspension of arrest warrants for gang leaders seeking peace did not free them of responsibilities for crimes they committed, nor would it stop judicial investigations.
Meanwhile, a mix-up between Petro’s government and Attorney General’s Office emerged over Antioquia’s urban peace process: 16 of the 23 capos named as peace negotiators were already in prison, so suspending their “arrest warrants” was nonsensical as they were already detained in the high-security Itagüí Prison.
“We truly never imagined that a request would be made to suspend arrest warrants for people already serving sentences,” chief prosecutor Luz Adriana Camargo told Caracol Radio.
Senator Isabel Zuleta with crime bosses in Itagüí Prison. Photo: Paz Urbana
Prison party
For this judicial – rather than political – reason, Camargo revoked the suspension orders for the 16 capos already doing time.
“We are talking about dialogues inside a prison with convicted individuals,” she said.
The Attorney General’s office also corrected widespread fake news – amplified by right-wing presidential candidates Paloma Valencia and Abelardo de la Espriella – that the 16 jailed crime chiefs would be freed as part of the Paz Urbana negotiations.
In fact, there were no plans to release the IItagüí peace facilitators, clarified Camargo’s office.
But in a further twist this week the government froze the peace talks in the Itagüí Prison after revelations that the jailed capos mounted an unauthorized vallenato concert by popular singer Nelson Velásquez, reportedly costing 500 million pesos (US$140,000).
For many commentators, the partying in the prison brought back painful memories of drug baron Pablo Escobar’s luxury lifestyle while supposedly imprisoned by the state in the 1990s.
Meanwhile the chief prosecutor Camargo came under fire for her decision to suspend warrants for seven other gang leaders currently on the run – including that of Pérez Peña of La Mesa.
This week the exact whereabouts of Pérez Peña was unknown, as was his willingness to engage in any peace process. According to a report by TV station Teleantioquia, the La Mesa gang leader was based in Madrid, Spain, while “moving around Europe as a sophisticated tourist”.
For El Montañero, coming home to Colombia, even under the guise of a peace facilitator, could be less of a holiday.
Apple will bring OLED displays to its iPad Air models next year, according to a new report from Korea's ET News.
Citing industry sources, the outlet says Samsung Display will begin mass production of OLED panels around the end of 2026 or January next year, with a view to supplying panels for Apple's next iPad Air, expected to be released in early 2027. Apple last updated the iPad Air in March 2026 with an M4 chip.
Apple's iPad Pro models already have OLED displays, but the iPad Air models still use more affordable LCD displays that Apple calls Liquid Retina. The Liquid Retina displays do not support 120Hz ProMotion display technology, and are limited to 60Hz refresh rates.
OLED panels individually control each pixel, resulting in more precise color reproduction and deeper blacks compared to LCD. They also provide superior contrast, faster response times, better viewing angles, and greater design flexibility.
That said, unlike Apple's iPad Pro models, which feature two-stack low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) OLED panels, the iPad Air is expected to use single-stack low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) panels, meaning that they may be dimmer and continue to lack ProMotion.
Apple's plan to transition the iPad mini from an LCD to an OLED display is already widely rumored, with reports suggesting the iPad mini 8 will adopt OLED later this year, albeit using the same cheaper single-stack LTPS panel.
Once the iPad mini and iPad Air receive the display upgrade, the entry-level iPad will be the only model in Apple's tablet lineup without an OLED panel.
Apple and Amazon are partnering up for a $19.99/month streaming TV bundle that includes access to Apple TV and Peacock Premium Plus.
Available to customers in the U.S. for a limited time, the streaming bundle offers access to both services at a 30% discount, similar to the bundle that launched in October 2025.
Apple TV is normally $12.99 per month, while Peacock starts at $16.99 for the Premium plan that's included in the bundle, so that's a $10 monthly saving. Peacock Premium Plus includes the option to download content and watch it offline. It also removes most ads.
The Apple TV and Peacock Premium Plus bundle offers customers access to live sports like Premier League soccer and Major League Baseball, Apple Originals like Pluribus and Severance, as well as Peacock shows and moves. Customers can watch content from both services directly through the Prime Video app on compatible devices.
"This bundle makes it easier for customers to seamlessly access even more entertainment options all in one place," Ryan Pirozzi, Head of Prime Video Channels, US, said in a statement. "By expanding the streaming services and bundles available on Prime Video, we're continuing to deliver on our commitment to provide customers with greater choice and seamless access to the shows, movies, and sports they love."
Prime members can subscribe to the bundle via the Prime Video app or visiting the Prime Video website and using their existing Amazon account and payment method.
OpenProject 17.3 has been released and, as announced on our blog, introduces several improvements to agile project management, making it easier to plan and structure work with sprints, backlogs and boards.
In this article, we highlight the most important changes and what they mean for your daily work. And, as always, please see our release notes that contain all changes, features and bug fixes.
Agile workflows have long been supported in OpenProject, but often required workarounds or manual setup. In our recent article on the future of agile work, we outlined how we want to further evolve these workflows and make them more intuitive and accessible.
With OpenProject 17.3, we are now taking the next step and bringing these improvements directly into the product, supporting both the planning and execution of agile work.
Important
If you are already working with the Backlogs module, you will notice changes to the layout and behavior with OpenProject 17.3. These updates are designed to simplify your workflow, while preserving your existing data and structure.
Dedicated sprint objects
If you have been working with agile methods in OpenProject, you may already be familiar with using versions as a way to structure your sprints. While this approach worked well, it required a certain level of adaptation and was not always intuitive, particularly for teams transitioning from other tools.
With OpenProject 17.3, we are introducing dedicated sprint objects as a natural way to plan and organize your work. Instead of relying on workarounds, sprints are now a core part of the Backlogs module and can be used directly to structure your work packages.
Each sprint comes with key attributes such as name, status, and dates, and work packages can be assigned to sprints in a straightforward way. This creates a clearer and more consistent structure for planning and executing agile work and makes it easier for teams to get started, including those migrating from tools like Jira.
All work packages visible on backlogs
When planning work in backlogs, teams often had to decide in advance which work package types should be included. This could lead to situations where not all relevant work was visible in one place, requiring additional configuration or workarounds.
With OpenProject 17.3, backlogs now display all work package types within a project by default. This means that teams can manage and prioritize all relevant work directly in the backlog and sprint planning view.
This change provides a more consistent and flexible way to organize work, especially for teams that use different work package types across their projects.
Automatic sprint board creation
Setting up a board for a new sprint often required manual configuration, even after the sprint had already been planned. This added extra steps before teams could start working and made it harder to ensure a consistent setup across projects.
With OpenProject 17.3, a dedicated sprint board is now created automatically when starting a sprint. The board is configured based on the project’s workflows and includes all work packages assigned to the sprint.
Teams are taken directly to the board after starting the sprint, allowing them to begin working immediately without additional setup and focus directly on executing their sprint.
Closing a sprint and handling remaining work
Completing a sprint and preparing for the next iteration often required manual adjustments, especially when dealing with unfinished work.
With OpenProject 17.3, active sprints can now be completed directly. When closing a sprint, you are guided to handle remaining work packages in bulk, for example, by moving them back to the backlog or assigning them to another sprint.
This makes it easier to move from one sprint to the next and keeps your workflow consistent without additional manual steps.
Action boards now available in the Community edition
Boards have always been a central part of agile workflows in OpenProject, helping teams to visualize and organize their work. With the mentioned improvements to sprints and backlogs in OpenProject 17.3, their role becomes even more important.
With this release, all Action board types are now available in the Community edition. This extends the existing basic board functionality and allows teams to use a wider range of board configurations, such as Kanban or parent-child boards, without requiring an Enterprise plan.
In the future, we plan to develop and offer additional advanced board features, such as swimlanes and work-in-progress limits, as Enterprise add-ons.
This step reflects our commitment to making powerful agile tools accessible to a broader audience, while continuing to evolve OpenProject based on the needs of our Community.
OpenProject 17.3 offers more features and updates. To keep this article concise, here is a quick look at some additional improvements worth highlighting:
Edit project attributes directly on the project overview page
Nested groups for better user and permission management
Groups can now be nested, allowing memberships and permissions to be inherited across the group hierarchy. This also lays the foundation for future improvements in structuring groups in OpenProject.
You will find more information about all new features and changes in our Release notes and in the OpenProject Documentation.
If you need support, you can post your questions in the Community Forum, or if you are eligible for Enterprise support, please contact us and we will be happy to support you personally.
New to OpenProject? To test all features of OpenProject 17.3 right away, create a 14 days free trial instance for our OpenProject Enterprise cloud.
Prefer to run OpenProject 17.3 in your own infrastructure? Here you can find the Installation guidelines for OpenProject.
A very special thank you goes to Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, City of Cologne, Deutsche Bahn and ZenDiS for sponsoring released or upcoming features. Your support, alongside the efforts of our amazing Community, helps drive these innovations. Also a big thanks to our Community members for reporting bugs and helping us identify and provide fixes. Special thanks for reporting and finding bugs go to Walid Ibrahim, Jörg Mollowitz, Robin Kluth, Natalie Stettner, Gábor Alexovics, Patrick Lenk, and Daniel Elkeles.
Last but not least, we are very grateful for our very engaged translation contributors on Crowdin, who translated quite a few OpenProject strings! This release we would like to particularly thank the following users:
Phi Công Nguyễn Vũ, for an outstanding number of translations into Vietnamese.
Mehmet Coşkun, for a great number of translations into Turkish.
Liangzdz, for a great number of translations into Chinese Simplified.
Would you like to help out with translations yourself? Then take a look at our translation guide and find out exactly how you can contribute. It is very much appreciated!
As always, we welcome any feedback on this release.
OpenProject is a powerful tool, but with great power comes the complexity of customization. If you’re new to OpenProject and having trouble setting up statuses for workflows, you’re not alone. Once you understand how status transitions work in OpenProject and how they depend on roles and work package types, you’ll appreciate their full potential.
Read this article to learn…
what statuses, roles and workflows are and how they work together,
why your project management will be much more powerful and efficient with custom workflows,
how to add a new status and set up a workflow for it.
Let’s dive in!
Note
April 2026: This article has been updated to reflect the latest improvements in workflow configuration in OpenProject.
Know your terms: Status, role and workflow
Let’s start with some terminology. You will be much faster to create your very own workflows with OpenProject, if you speak its language. So, what are statuses, roles and workflows? And how do they come together?
What is a status in OpenProject?
The status is a key element in every project management. In OpenProject, the status is also an essential attribute of a work package. Based on the status, everyone knows immediately how far the respective work package has progressed.
By default, statuses such as New, In progress or Closed are activated in OpenProject. However, depending on the type of work package, other statuses may be useful. For example, a work package of the type Feature needs the status In test, a work package of the type Blog post rather needs the status In review.
In addition to permissions for features or project views, admins can also assign specific permissions for status changes in OpenProject roles. Exactly these settings then define a workflow in OpenProject – which we will take a closer look at in the next section.
What is a workflow in OpenProject?
Let’s get back to our example from above: Firstly, we have the status In test, which should be selectable by default for features. Then we have the In review status, which should not be selectable for features, but for work packages of the blog post type.
Now let’s take it a step further and look at the roles and permissions: Let’s say, Luke is a developer and regularly works on features. However, he is not authorized to test features - there is a separate QA team for this. Now it’s suddenly no longer enough to just assign a set of statuses to the work package type Feature, we also need different permissions to activate a status, depending on the role.
This is where workflows come into play. In OpenProject, a workflow defines which status changes are allowed depending on the role and the work package type. In other words: It is not only important what type of work package you are working on, but also who you are. For example, a developer might be allowed to move a work package from In development to Needs testing, while a QA team member can move it from Needs testing to In testing.
With workflows, administrators can control exactly which role is allowed to set which status for which work package.
Note
Status changes for workflows are configured on a global level via the administration panel: Administration → Work packages → Workflows.
This flexibility is what makes workflows in OpenProject so powerful — but also more complex at first. Instead of having a fixed process, workflows adapt to your roles and work package types, allowing you to model real-life responsibilities in your projects.
The power of customization: Simplify the work for project members
As an administrator, you have the power of defining specific workflows for each role so that project members can perform exactly the status changes they need. The more you customize as an admin at the top, the easier the work becomes for other roles further down in the project.
And remember: You only have to configure these settings once for them to work for years. So grab a coffee and block out a morning to take a closer look at status transitions in OpenProject. Your colleagues and your future work will benefit greatly!
Here’s an example of a typical work setting where status transitions with workflows will be much appreciated:
Let’s take Luke, the developer, from the example above. Now his admin Ivan wants Luke to be able to set work packages of the type Feature from New to In development and then to Needs testing. However, while Luke’s QA colleague Maya should be able to change work package statuses of the type Feature from Needs testing to In testing, this should not be possible for Luke. A role-based permission setting like this allows both the developer Luke and Maya from QA to do their jobs while preventing them from accidentally setting a status for which they have no permission.
This is how the example workflow for the role Developer and the type Feature would look like in OpenProject:
Step-by-step guide: How to add a new status and set up a workflow
Finally, let’s go through the entire process step by step: What settings does admin Ivan need to configure to define the workflows for the work package type Feature – so that each role can perform exactly the status transitions they need to do their job?
Step 1: Create the roles, the status and the work package type you need
If you are specifically looking to create a workflow, you might already have set up the roles, the status and the work package types you need. For our example, admin Ivan would first have to create a work package type called Feature under: Administration → Work packages → Types → New type.
Then he would have to make sure the statuses we described above exist (e.g. Needs testing) – and create new ones, if needed.
He would also have to set up two roles - Developer and QA. This setting can be found under Administration → Users and permissions → Roles and permissions → New role.
Tip
To save some time when creating a new role, we advise you to copy an existing workflow. Please make sure that the new role has the right to change a work package status (or edit work packages, which includes changing the status). You can also copy an existing workflow between roles. For example, you could copy the workflow from the role Developer for the type Feature to the role QA and then adjust only the transitions related to testing.
Step 2: Create and configure the workflow
Now that we have created the roles and the work package type that we want to customize, we can start creating a new workflow under Administration → Work packages → Workflows. For our example, Ivan would have to choose the type Feature.
Next, Ivan needs to select Developer from the dropdown of available roles. He now either sees the statuses that were set for this role in the past. Or, if it’s a completely new role, no status transitions are configured yet, and he can configure them by clicking the + Status button.
Once all required statuses are selected, you’ll see a table with the current status in the rows and the new statuses in the columns.
Please note that all statuses appear twice in the table: the rows show the current status, and the columns show the new status. If the cell at the intersection is checked, the transition is allowed. So, if you want the role to be able to change statuses in both directions, e.g. from New to In progress and also from In progress to New, you have to check the corresponding cells in both directions.
In our example, Ivan wants to make sure that a person with the role Developer cannot set or change a status from or to anything related to testing. If Ivan now unchecks every box that is related to testing, the screen would look like this:
The table shows status transitions enabled or disabled for developers (role) on work packages of the type Feature. As testing features should only be done by QA, these statuses are disabled in the screenshot.
Tip
OpenProject allows admins to define different status transitions depending on whether the user is the author or assignee of the work package. These options can be configured using the tabs at the top of the workflow view and allow you to define more flexible or stricter workflows depending on the situation.
Now, don’t forget to click Save and your workflow is ready!
Tip
You can also use the Summary view to get an overview of all configured status transitions across roles and types.
Wrapping up: More information on how to set up and customize your OpenProject
You have now learned what status, role and workflow mean in OpenProject and how to set up status transitions to support your project and task management. Here’s a quick overview of the tips in this article:
Before creating a workflow, make sure you have the needed role, status and work package type.
When creating a new role, copy an existing workflow to save time.
More information on how to set up your OpenProject instance can be found in the system admin guide – on this page you will find a guide to create custom workflows.
OpenProject is an open source project management tool with a wide range of features and a powerful set of customization options. It offers you the tool to create a custom project management just as you need it. And once it’s set up, working with status transitions and other custom features and actions will be fun because it will work easily and be crowned with success.
Bogotá-based Remoti launched a “Workforce-as-a-Service” model and new app on April 14, 2026, making the case that managing distributed teams in Latin America requires dedicated infrastructure – and that the company’s nearly ten years of regional operating experience is the foundation for building it.
The Remoti App consolidates the company’s services into three modules: Global Opportunities for talent matching, Workforce Operation covering payroll, compliance and contracts, and Marketplace & Financial Products providing financial tools to workers directly.
“The world changed, and companies need new ways to build and operate global teams. With Workforce-as-a-Service, we’re allowing firms to integrate talent in Latin America with the same flexibility with which they build their technology in the cloud,” said Pablo Miller, CEO and founder of the startup.
“At the same time, we’re allowing a new more structured, trustworthy and talent-backed experience in the region.”
The bundling is a move away from the traditional staffing model and toward something closer to a managed HR platform with deep regional focus.
The launch comes at a reasonable moment for the thesis: Colombia’s IT outsourcing market is projected to reach an annual growth rate of 7.37% through 2030, while the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report found big data analysts, AI, and machine learning specialists will be among the fastest-growing job categories in the region – with 51% of employers calling for more public investment in reskilling.
The harder question is differentiation. While others have built global employer-of-record and HR infrastructure at scale, Remoti’s angle is regional depth and operational ownership – WaaS is framed as a managed service, not a software product, implying the company absorbs more risk in exchange for deeper client relationships.
“This launch marks a structural change in how organizations think about the redistribution of its operations and access to talent. It is the result of nearly 10 years building, operating and making a model perfect with international companies.” added Juan Felipe Velasco, managing director and co-founder at Remoti
The worker-facing financial products layer also points to a two-sided model that most competitors haven’t prioritized in the region.
Remoti’s event included a policy panel with Congressman Antonio Zabarain, who sponsored legislation to promote Colombia’s tech sector – relevant context given that 61% of Colombian firms cite outdated or inflexible regulatory frameworks as a barrier to business transformation, according to the WEF, making compliance navigation a genuine value-add rather than a commodity service.
Whether the WaaS framing holds up under the operational realities of multi-country employment compliance will determine how credible the platform story becomes.
International Women’s Day 2024 in Bogotá. Image credit: Juan Vargas via Wikimedia Commons
The more than 100 female Colombian journalists who signed the ‘No to the pact of silence’ – a petition calling for answers about former president Andrés Pastrana’s appearance in the Jeffrey Epstein files –have posed 10 questions to candidates in the upcoming presidential elections.
The questions, shared on X last Sunday, intend to make the candidates take a clear position before the public on key women’s issues, including the mentions of Pastrana in the Epstein files.
So far, only two candidates – Roy Barreras and Sondra Macollins – have responded publicly to the questions, which come amid what some have described as Colombia’s #MeToo movement.
“We asked 10 questions to those seeking the presidency,” wrote Ana Cristina Restrepo, one of the women leading the ‘No to the pact of silence’, in an X post on April 12.
The questions addressed the preservation of abortion rights, equal representation in positions of high power, protocols to address violence against women, and the commitment to the continuation, protection, and strengthening of related public policies in support of women’s rights.
Among the 102 women behind the questions are public figures like: María Elvira Samper, a writer, journalist and philosopher; Patricia Nieto, professor at the University of Antioquia and journalist; and Maria Teresa Ronderos, Director of the Ibero-American Center for Journalistic Investigation (CLIP).
The list also includes Jineth Bedoya Lima, a pioneer of #NoEsHoraDeCallar (it is not the time to be quiet) a campaign that denounces sexual violence and urges survivors to speak out against gender-based violence. Bedoya is herself a survivor of kidnapping, torture and sexual violence by paramilitaries in 2000, with her case going to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
The first candidate to respond to the questions was center-left presidential hopeful Roy Barreras of the La Fuerza Party. “101 women signatories of #NoAlPactoDeSilencio, representing thousands of others, have put these 10 questions to the presidential candidates. Here, in this thread, are my answers,” he wrote on X on April 13.
Sondra Macollins, an independent candidate for the Digital Party, also answered in an X post on April 14.“I want to respond to what has been raised by #NoAlPactoDeSilencio because the truth is not negotiable,” she said.
“The time of the ‘untouchables’ and complicit silence is over. If there are names linked to Andrés Pastrana and Epstein, the country demands clear answers,” added Macollins.
The materials included a photo of Pastrana and Ghislaine Maxwell wearing Colombian Air Force uniforms, alleged compromising emails, and testimonies where Maxwell described the two as friends and claimed to have flown a Black Hawk in Colombia. There were also reports that Pastrana flew on a private jet with Epstein and disgraced agent Jean-Luc Brunel, accused of recruiting minors for the late financier.
Later, #MeTooColombia was brought into focus following allegations by female journalists of sexual harassment in media outlets such as RTVC and Caracol.
According to the official ballot issued by Colombia’s National Civil Registry, there are 14 presidential candidates for the first round, which will take place on May 31. Four of them are women.
Apple has two new Apple Watch activity challenges coming up, celebrating Earth Day and International Dance Day. The Earth Day activity challenge will launch on Wednesday, April 22, while the Dance Day challenge will take place a week later on Wednesday, April 29.
To complete the Earth Day challenge, Apple Watch owners will need to complete a workout that lasts for 30 minutes or longer.
This Earth Day, April 22, record any 30 minute workout with the Workout app or any app that records workouts to Health to earn this award. The earth will think the world of you.
The International Dance Day award can be earned by completing a Dance workout of 20 minutes or more.
Show off your dance moves for International Dance Day. Earn this award by recording a Dance workout of 20 minutes or more on April 29. Record it with the Workout app or any app that adds workouts to Health.
Apple Watch owners who earn the Earth Day award will unlock a badge in the Fitness app, along with animated stickers.
The Dance Day challenge will also unlock a special Fitness app badge and accompanying stickers.
Earth Day and International Dance Day are two events that are always part of Apple's ongoing Apple Watch activity challenge schedule. They follow the February Heart Month activity challenge and the January New Year challenge.
Enhanced enforcement seeks to promote family-friendly tourism & unwelcome sex & vice-oriented tourism.
Migración Colombia, Colombia’s immigration agency, has executed the expulsion of two US citizens from Medellín following separate investigations into activities deemed a risk to public security and peaceful coexistence. The administrative measures targeted Steve Newland, a digital content creator known as “Chill Capo,” and Samuel McVey, a former teacher from New York. Both individuals were transported to the Aeropuerto Internacional José María Córdova in Rionegro and placed on a flight to Miami, Florida.
Definition of “Capo” according to Google.
The actions come amid a broader strategy by the Colombian government to address concerns regarding sex tourism and the presence of foreign nationals with outstanding legal issues in their home countries. According to Paola Salazar, the Regional Director of Migración Colombia, the agency has adopted a stricter posture to ensure that Colombia is not utilized as a refuge for individuals linked to fraudulent or illicit activities.
The Case of Steve “Chill Capo”Newland
Steve Newland, a 42-year-old US citizen born in Willingboro, New Jersey, had been residing in Medellín since 2022. Operating under the digital brand “Chill Capo,” Newland promoted luxury lifestyle experiences and nightlife events. However, an investigation by Migración Colombia determined that Newland used his digital platforms to promote encounters with alleged purposes of sexual exploitation.
“Lo están esperando y lo capturan, (they are waiting for them and they will capture them)” stated Federico Gutiérrez, the Mayor of Medellín, referring to the coordination with US authorities regarding the return of the individuals.
The agency reported that Newland’s content included advice on how to evade immigration controls at the airport, such as using false medical certificates or simulating injuries to bypass rigorous inspections. His publications also mentioned accommodations linked to historical criminal figures, specifically the penthouses de Pablo Escobar, and provided instructions on how to avoid being targeted with escopolamina during social outings. Following the investigation, authorities confirmed Newland was in an irregular migration status. He has been banned from reentering Colombia for a minimum of five years.
Newland has publicly denied the allegations via his social media channels. He asserted that his primary objective was to educate visitors on safety and help them avoid dangerous situations. Newland claimed that his events were legal, safe, and conducted in collaboration with established Colombian businesses in the Parque Lleras district. He further contended that his visa had been renewed multiple times since 2022, suggesting that any illegal activity would have prevented such renewals. Newland challenged authorities to present specific evidence or identify victims related to the claims of exploitation.
#Noticia | Influenciador estadounidense que promovía turismo con fines de explotación sexual en Medellín, fue deportado por Migración Colombia.
El extranjero no podrá ingresar al país en los próximos cinco años, luego de este tiempo tendrá que solicitar una visa. pic.twitter.com/9QhZKJ7C8X
On LinkedIn, McVey claims to have a new private school in Llanogrande, Antioquia, that embraces “leaders of drug cartels and paramilitaries” among others.
In a separate incident, 46-year-old Samuel McVey, who was fired as a primary school teacher but styles himself as “Chief Executive Officer @ McVey International Group” on LinkedIn, was expelled following a series of disturbances at educational institutions in the Valle de Aburrá (Metro Medellín) and the city’s eastern Antioquia bedroom community of Rionegro. On April 8, 2026, McVey reportedly entered at least three schools in the wealthy Las Palmas sector of Medellín, where he allegedly initiated confrontations and made threats against staff and students. He subsequently traveled to Rionegro, where he attempted to gain entry to the Colegio Monteluna in Llanogrande by posing as an English language instructor.
When denied access, McVey reportedly directed threats toward students, prompting school officials to contact the Policía Nacional. He was apprehended by units from the Estación Llanogrande near a local strip mall. Manuel Villa Mejía, the Secretary of Security and Coexistence of Medellín, described McVey as a risk to the community and confirmed that the individual was in a state of high agitation upon his detention.
Investigation into McVey’s background revealed that he is a fugitive from New Rochelle, New York. In the United States, McVey faces charges of aggravated harassment in the second degree, a misdemeanor. The charges stem from an investigation by the New Rochelle Police Department involving threats made against Dr. Corey W. Reynolds, the Superintendent of the City School District of New Rochelle. McVey, a former Spanish teacher at Isaac E. Young Middle School, was terminated in early 2026. New Rochelle authorities had issued two bench warrants for his arrest after he failed to appear for court proceedings on March 26 and April 1, 2026.
Despite the outstanding warrants, the New Rochelle Police Department noted that they do not typically extradite individuals for misdemeanor offenses. Consequently, Colombian authorities processed his departure as an immediate expulsion based on his conduct within Colombia. McVey has been prohibited from entering Colombia for ten years.
Regional Enforcement Trends and Peak Travel Season Operations
The expulsions of Newland and McVey come after a larger enforcement effort during the 2026 Semana Santa (Easter Week) season. Migración Colombia reported that enhanced controls at airports and land borders resulted in the detection of numerous foreign nationals with irregular status or criminal backgrounds.
Specific cases identified by the agency during this period include:
In Leticia, Amazonas, a Peruvian citizen was detained at a hotel; the individual was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice for alleged crimes against public health.
In Ibagué, a Venezuelan citizen wanted by Peruvian authorities under an Interpol Red Notice for aggravated theft was arrested in a joint operation with the Policía Nacional.
In Facatativá, another Venezuelan national was apprehended for an Interpol Red Notice involving charges of human trafficking for sexual exploitation and membership in criminal organizations.
In Bogotá, two Dominican citizens were expelled after attempting to fraudulently obtain Colombian passports to travel to Europe.
At the Aeropuerto Internacional José María Córdova, a man and a woman from the Dominican Republic were intercepted while attempting to travel to Peru and Argentina using fraudulent Colombian documentation.
Inadmitted (photo courtesy Migración Colombia)
Statistical Overview of Inadmissibility in 2026
In the first quarter of 2026, Migración Colombia has denied entry to over 600 foreign nationals. The primary reasons for inadmissibility include state sovereignty and security risks (153 cases), lack of required visas (133 cases), and insufficient documentation (104 cases). Additionally, 89 individuals were rejected for providing false information during immigration interviews, while 34 had documented criminal records.
The agency also noted a specific focus on preventing the Explotación Sexual Comercial de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes (ESCNNA). Through cooperation with international intelligence agencies and the Angel Watch platform, 471 individuals have been denied entry since 2016 for reasons associated with sexual offenses. At the Rionegro terminal alone, 31 inadmissibility cases have been recorded so far in 2026 related to potential sex tourism risks.
The Director General of Migración Colombia, Gloria Esperanza Arriero, emphasized that while the country remains open to international travel and investment, visitors are required to comply with the Constitución Política de Colombia and national laws. Under Decreto 2136 de 2021, the immigration authority maintains the power to deny entry or order the immediate return of any foreign citizen who poses a risk to national security or public order.
The main nationalities of those denied entry in early 2026 include citizens from the United States (76), the Dominican Republic (64), Ecuador (55), and Venezuela (52).
Montage of deportees Samuel McVey and Steven “Chill Capo” Newland
Login
