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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, December 22nd 2024 - 10:59 UTC

Stories for May 2018

  • Thursday, May 31st 2018 - 20:16 UTC

    World No Tobacco Day: Tobacco and Heart Disease

    “Most people know that using tobacco causes cancer and lung disease, but many people aren’t aware that tobacco also causes heart disease and stroke – the world’s leading killers,” said Dr Tedros Adhan

    Tobacco use has declined markedly since 2000, according to a new WHO report, but the reduction is insufficient to meet globally agreed targets aimed at protecting people from death and suffering from cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

  • Thursday, May 31st 2018 - 09:01 UTC

    Argentine Senate votes 37 to 30 to freeze utility rates; Macri expected to veto the bill

    Allegedly Macri had already drafted the veto, which if signed will sour a political relation with a divided opposition

    Following twelve hours of heated and at time acrimonious debate the Argentine Senate on early Thursday voted, 37 to 30, to freeze utility prices. President Mauricio Macri had anticipated that if the bill was passed he would veto it because there is no way the budget can stand an additional 1% of GDP deficit.

  • Thursday, May 31st 2018 - 08:57 UTC

    Paraguay will have a woman president for the first time in history

    Parliament is due to confirm Cartes' resignation and proclaim Pucheta as interim president this week. Pucheta is from the right-wing Colorado Party

    Paraguay will have a woman president for the first time in its history, at least temporarily, after outgoing leader Horacio Cartes decided to step down ahead of schedule. Vice-President Alicia Pucheta, 68, will complete Cartes' mandate after he resigned to become a senator.

  • Thursday, May 31st 2018 - 08:54 UTC

    Argentine military to have a greater role in combating drug-trafficking

    The activities of the country's Armed Forces are a sensitive topic in Argentina given the atrocities the military committed during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. (Pic Clarin)

    Argentina’s Armed Forces will soon play a bigger role in the fight against drug-trafficking and terrorism, as the president Mauricio Macri administration looks to assigning new responsibilities to the military in domestic and border security.

  • Thursday, May 31st 2018 - 08:46 UTC

    1.2bn children worldwide at risk from conflict, poverty and sexual discrimination

    “Around the world, conflict denies children of theirs rights to health, education, protection and freedom from fear, leading to a sudden end of childhood”

    About 1.2 billion children face severe risks from conflict, poverty or sexual discrimination, said Save the Children rights organization in a report published on Wednesday. The main threats to childhood are child labor, exclusion from education, early pregnancy and child marriage, with conflict often inflating the risks.

  • Thursday, May 31st 2018 - 08:36 UTC

    EU pledges more funds to combat populism and migrant crisis

    The EC, the bloc's executive arm, proposed the regional shift in the “cohesion” portion of the post-2020 multi-year budget as Italy faces political chaos.

    The European Union has proposed spending more on Italy and other member countries hit by the economic and migrant crises, but less on increasingly wealthy eastern states like Poland. The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, proposed the regional shift in the “cohesion” portion of the post-2020 multi-year budget as Italy faces political chaos.

  • Thursday, May 31st 2018 - 08:27 UTC

    Debilitated Brazilian government challenged with an oil-workers 72-hour strike

    The oil sector strike included workers on at least 20 oil rigs in the lucrative Campos basin of 46 operated by Petrobras

    Brazilian oil workers began a 72-hour strike on Wednesday in a new blow to President Michel Temer following a nationwide trucker protest that has strangled Latin America's largest economy for over a week. The strike affecting several rigs, refineries, plants and ports is the latest challenge for state-led oil firm Petrobras, whose shares have tumbled nearly 30% in two weeks over fears that political interference would unwind more investor-focused policies.

  • Thursday, May 31st 2018 - 08:20 UTC

    Japanese whale hunt slaughters 122 pregnant minke whales

    The latest figures show that of 333 minke Antarctic whales killed last summer, 181 were females. Some 122 females, or 67%, were pregnant.

    More than 120 pregnant whales were slaughtered in the latest Japanese whale hunt in Antarctica's Southern Ocean, new documents show, reigniting calls to step up efforts to stop the annual killing spree. A further 114 immature whales were killed as part of the so-called “scientific” whaling program, according to meeting papers from the International Whaling Commission's scientific committee meeting this month.

  • Thursday, May 31st 2018 - 08:12 UTC

    Fed proposes simplifying trading rules for foreign banks and funds

    The Fed alongside other U.S. regulators, proposed rewriting the “Volcker Rule” introduced following the 2007-09 financial crisis

    Foreign banks and funds are set to benefit from a move by U.S. regulators to simplify a trading rule that foreign banks and regulators say has inadvertently complicated firms operating as far afield as Europe and Asia. The Federal Reserve, alongside other U.S. regulators, on Wednesday proposed rewriting the “Volcker Rule” introduced following the 2007-2009 financial crisis in a bid to simplify the regulation and make it easier for banks to comply.

  • Thursday, May 31st 2018 - 08:01 UTC

    Falklands to build construction unit for vulnerable persons

    MLAs and government officers will scrutinize the evaluations and following this a briefing will be prepared for the Executive Council meeting in August.

    Following a formal procurement process, the Falkland Islands Government has received tender responses from a number of construction companies interested in building the new vulnerable persons extra care unit in Stanley.

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