MercoPress https://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2024, MercoPress. https://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[Lacalle Pou has 45% approval, study shows]]> Lacalle's chances of running for a second term are yet to be gauged, the survey found Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou was found to have a 45% approval rating according to a study by pollsters Cifra conducted during the month of August and released Thursday in Montevideo. The head of state who is nearing the end of his five-year term also had a 40% negative image, the survey showed.

]]> Fri, 20 Sep 2024 23:24:00 GMT <![CDATA[Haitian gov't announces security measures for merchant ships sailing to and from Port-au-Prince]]> Conille's government is faced with shipping companies threatening to halt operations in the country as gangs favor smuggling to formal foreign trade Haitian authorities have announced that merchant ships will be escorted then entering a leaving Port-au-Prince given the mounting insecurity in the Caribbean country. Interim Prime Minister Garry Conille made this decision after four ships left to avoid gang violence.

]]> Fri, 20 Sep 2024 23:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Brazil evaluating return to summer daylight saving time]]> Silveira said there was no energy risk in 2024 but it was necessary to think with an eye on 2025 and 2026 Brazil's National Electric System Operator (ONS) suggested the federal government implement a summer daylight saving time scheme as part of its contingency plan, Agencia Brasil reported Thursday. The measure is now under evaluation with a decision due in the coming days, according to Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira, who also explained that even if adopted, it may not necessarily last the whole summer.

]]> Fri, 20 Sep 2024 10:27:00 GMT <![CDATA[Water deficit places Ecuador under "red alert"]]> Some 77,000 troops were deployed to protect Ecuador's key sites during nighttime blackouts A red alert has been declared in several parts of Ecuador hit by an unprecedented drought that resulted among other things in mass power cuts in a country already hit by spreading forest fires.

]]> Fri, 20 Sep 2024 10:06:00 GMT <![CDATA[Unemployment keeps growing in Argentina]]> Consumption was also reported to have decreased significantly According to a report from Argentina's National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec), unemployment in the South American country reached 7.6 % in the second quarter of 2024. The figures were consistent with the 7.7% recorded in the previous trimester but represented a sharp interannual deterioration from the 6.2% during the same period of 2023.

]]> Fri, 20 Sep 2024 09:34:00 GMT <![CDATA[Argentine woman in England killed by her son]]> Juliana had moved to England at the age of 20 A 48-year-old Mar del Plata-born woman living in England was shot dead at her Luton home. The perpetrator appears to have been her 18-year-old son who would have also killed his two siblings. The suspect, named Nicholas Prosper, has been placed in custody. At the time of his detention some 600 meters from the crime scene he was still in possession of the gun used to assassinate Juliana Falcón, her son Kyle (16), and her daughter Giselle (13).

]]> Fri, 20 Sep 2024 09:04:00 GMT <![CDATA[Falklands, confirmed case of avian influenza in Surf Bay, close to Stanley]]> Since 30 October 2023, 113 suspect birds/animals have been reported, 72 sets of swabs have been taken. Nineteen have returned positive results and 53 negative results The Falkland Islands Director of Natural Resources has released the following, "On Monday 16 September 2024 swabs that were taken from a dead Gentoo penguin on Surf Bay were tested and returned positive for HPAI. Given that this is an isolated case of one single bird, that is more than 1km from poultry or a colony, a level 1 response will be followed and a full protection zone will not be declared."

]]> Fri, 20 Sep 2024 08:02:00 GMT <![CDATA[European Parliament says González Urrutia is Venezuela's President-elect]]> González Urrutia said he would continue to work for a democratic Venezuela from abroad and hoped to be back in his country in January for his intended inauguration The European Parliament Thursday recognized Unitarian Democratic Platform (PUD) candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the legitimate winner of Venezuela's July 28 controversial presidential elections at which the incumbent Nicolás Maduro claims to have prevailed. Strasbourg reached this decision with 309 votes in favor, 201 against and 12 abstentions. Disenfranchised politician María Corina Machado has also been recognized as leader of the democratic forces in Venezuela.

]]> Thu, 19 Sep 2024 18:49:00 GMT <![CDATA[Israel reopens Embassy in Asunción]]> From left to right: Magen, Peña, and Ohana cut the traditional ribbon during Wednesday's ceremony Israel reopened its Embassy in Asunción after six years Wednesday in a ceremony attendedd by President Santiago Peña, Foreign Minister Ruben Ramírez Lezcano, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, and Israel's Ambassador to Uruguay and Paraguay Yoed Magen, among other high-ranking dignitaries. The mission had been closed in 2018 after then-President Mario Abdo Benítez moved the Paraguayan Embassy from Jerusalem back to Tel Aviv.

]]> Thu, 19 Sep 2024 14:12:00 GMT <![CDATA[Venezuela issues arrest warrants against Milei, his sister and Minister Bullrich]]> Saab called Milei “the most ferocious violator of human rights in the continent” Venezuela's Public Prosecutor's Office announced Wednesday the opening of an inquiry against Argentine President Javier Milei for alleged crimes against humanity and the "theft" of a Venezuelan state-owned airplane handed over to the United States. As a result, arrest warrants were issued against Milei, his sister and Presidential Secretary Karina Milei, and Security Minister Patricia Bullrich.

]]> Thu, 19 Sep 2024 10:27:00 GMT