MercoPress https://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2026, MercoPress. https://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[Trump interested in buying Chagos Islands with the strategic Diego Garcia air base]]> Previous legislation to hand the islands to Mauritius was shelved in April after the US removed its support of the deal. The US president Donald Trump is considering a plan to buy the Chagos Islands from Mauritius amid stalled plans from the UK to cede sovereignty of the territory, the Telegraph reported over the weekend.

]]> Mon, 08 Jun 2026 05:58:00 GMT <![CDATA[Trump says he will urge Netanyahu not to retaliate after Iran's missile attack on Israel]]> “I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate. Each of them had their moment: Israel had its strike, and Iran had its strike. We don't need another one,” Trump said US President Donald Trump said he would call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ask him not to respond to the missiles Iran fired at Israel on Sunday, in an effort to prevent a new escalation and salvage a deal with Tehran that he considers "very close." It was Iran's first direct attack since the ceasefire reached on April 8.

]]> Sun, 07 Jun 2026 21:24:00 GMT <![CDATA[Trump's 'Shield of the Americas' reshapes Central America's war on drug cartels]]> Governments aligned with the United States are adopting tough-on-crime rhetoric and requesting technical assistance Donald Trump's return to the White House and the launch of the "Shield of the Americas" —a militarized anti-narcotics coalition that excludes Mexico and that Washington unveiled in Miami in March— have reshaped the security landscape in Central America. The pressure, intensified after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, has pushed trafficking routes into international waters and forced uneven responses across the isthmus, according to a report by EL PAÍS.

]]> Sun, 07 Jun 2026 21:17:00 GMT <![CDATA[US sanctions Cuba's president Díaz-Canel and inner circle in push for regime change]]> The executive order, signed on May 1, also authorizes secondary sanctions against foreign companies and financial institutions that deal with key sectors of the Cuban economy The United States sanctioned Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and his closest circle on Thursday, in a fresh escalation of Washington's pressure on the island with the stated goal of forcing a change of regime after 67 years of communist government. Havana rejected the move at once.

]]> Fri, 05 Jun 2026 23:12:00 GMT <![CDATA[Lula pushes back on US tariffs, says Brazil is the one running a trade deficit]]> “The US surplus over the past 15 years was 415 billion dollars. So we were the ones who should have raised taxes, not them,” Lula said Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday rejected the US government's argument that Brazil engages in “unreasonable” practices in the bilateral relationship, arguing that it is Washington that runs a trade surplus with his country. If anyone should impose tariffs, he said, it would be Brazil.º

]]> Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:55:00 GMT <![CDATA[US proposes forced-labor tariffs on 60 economies, with Brazil and China facing 12.5%]]> The initiative seeks to replace the tariffs the Supreme Court struck down in February, when it found that President Donald Trump had exceeded his authority by using an economic emergency law The US government proposed tariffs of up to 12.5% on 60 economies —59 countries and the 27-nation European Union— for failing to ban or effectively enforce the prohibition on imports of goods made with forced labor. The measure, announced Tuesday night by Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, relies on Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act and is the White House's most ambitious step yet to rebuild its tariff policy.

]]> Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:40:00 GMT <![CDATA[Israel and Hezbollah keep firing despite Trump's announcement of an end to hostilities]]> Netanyahu emerged battered, at home and abroad, from his intention the previous day to launch a wave of bombings on Beirut, canceled on Trump's orders A day after US President Donald Trump announced an agreement to end the military clashes in Lebanon, the fighting continued on Tuesday with little change from previous days. Israel is limiting itself to not striking Beirut, but its bombings killed 12 people in various parts of the country. Hezbollah, for its part, kept firing, though it stopped aiming at the Israeli towns farthest from the border that it had recently been targeting.

]]> Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:48:00 GMT <![CDATA[Trump labels PCC and Comando Vermelho as terrorist organizations and Brazil fears intervention]]> Lula da Silva accused Flávio Bolsonaro, his most likely rival in October's presidential elections, of having “betrayed the homeland by going to the United States to ask for an intervention in Brazil” Brazil's government on Friday issued an official note rejecting the decision adopted by the administration of US President Donald Trump to designate Brazil's two main organized crime groups, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and the Comando Vermelho, as terrorist organizations. "We will not accept the use of arbitrary measures from abroad as a pretext to attack our sovereignty and our economy," the statement warned, while avoiding explicit reference to the US administration. The measure, announced on Thursday, adds both organizations to a list that includes Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, the main Mexican cartels, and the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua.

]]> Fri, 29 May 2026 23:32:00 GMT <![CDATA[United States strikes southern Iran targets "in self-defense" amid Doha peace talks]]> Trump defended the peace negotiations on his Truth Social network in response to growing criticism from Republican sectors The US Armed Forces struck military targets in southern Iran on Monday "in self-defense," according to a statement by US Central Command, in an episode that coincides with the arrival of Iranian negotiators in Qatar for peace talks mediated by the Qatari government. The operation also overlaps with the order issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Israeli army to "step on the accelerator" in its offensive against the Shiite militia Hezbollah in Lebanon, despite parallel negotiations between Tel Aviv and Beirut.

]]> Mon, 25 May 2026 22:11:00 GMT <![CDATA[2026 World Cup drives Airbnb supply surge in Mexican host cities and consolidates real estate firms' control]]> In all three cities, the main hosts are companies linked to the real estate sector and urban developers, rather than individuals The approach of the 2026 World Cup, which Mexico will co-host alongside the United States and Canada, has accelerated the mass conversion of traditional housing into short-term tourist rentals in the three Mexican cities hosting the tournament, with a sharp rise of real estate firms as the dominant market actor. According to data from the specialized firm AirDNA cited by the newspaper El País, the supply of properties on Airbnb and similar platforms grew in Mexico City by 30% between 2023 and 2026, rising from 18,000 to close to 24,000 units. In the Guadalajara metropolitan area, growth reached 50%, to 9,760 properties, and in the Monterrey metropolitan area it doubled, to 7,274 units.

]]> Mon, 25 May 2026 21:58:00 GMT