Stories for February 17th 2020

Monday, February 17th 2020 - 09:05 UTC
Elected members of Uruguay's new Legislative branch take the oath of office

Uruguay's new Senators and Deputies which emerged from the general election results of last October were sworn in on Saturday during a ceremony held at the Legislative Palace. The ceremony not only confirmed 99 members of the Lower House and 30 Senators but also marked the opening of ordinary sessions of the XLIX legislative period.
Monday, February 17th 2020 - 08:55 UTC
Talks in Geneva for further remains identifications at the Falklands' Argentine military cemetery

Argentina and the United Kingdom are holding talks in Geneva, with the International Red Cross for a new agreement on the identification of soldiers' remains in the Argentine Memorial cemetery at Darwin in the Falkland Islands, where there is still at least one grave with uncertainty as to the name/names of who are buried.
Monday, February 17th 2020 - 08:54 UTC
Incoming Uruguayan foreign minister invited by Argentina's Felipe Solá

This Tuesday the incoming Uruguayan foreign minister Ernesto Talvi will be in Buenos Aires on an invitation from his future peer Felipe Solá, which has been interpreted as the first formal contact between the Kirchnerite government of Alberto Fernandez and that of president-elect Luis Lacalle Pou, who takes office on March first.
Monday, February 17th 2020 - 08:50 UTC
Venezuela urgently shipping oil to fuel-short Cuba and its crippled its sugar and tourism industries

Venezuela's state energy firm PDVSA has been shipping more oil this month to close ally Cuba, as tighter U.S. sanctions have worsened fuel shortages on the Caribbean island, according to sources.
Monday, February 17th 2020 - 08:35 UTC
IMF admits coronavirus epidemic could damage global economic growth

The coronavirus epidemic could damage global economic growth this year, the IMF head said on Sunday, but a sharp and rapid economic rebound could follow. “There may be a cut that we are still hoping would be in the 0.1 to 0.2 percentage space,” the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, told the Global Women's Forum in Dubai.
Monday, February 17th 2020 - 08:34 UTC
Women hound Mexican president following the horrific murder of Ingrid and pictures or her dismembered body

Demonstrators in Mexico City, outraged by the horrific murder of a 25-year-old woman, sprayed graffiti on the presidential palace and disrupted President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's daily press conference.
Monday, February 17th 2020 - 07:50 UTC
Snakes mating season date forces closure of public park in Florida

A city in Florida closed off part of a park after residents spotted dozens of snakes that had apparently gathered for their annual coupling.
Monday, February 17th 2020 - 07:45 UTC
US calls for the immediate release of Guaidó's uncle detained on “preposterous charges” by the Maduro regime

The US State Department on Saturday condemned the detention in Venezuela of an uncle of opposition leader Juan Guaido, saying the man was being held on “preposterous charges.”
Monday, February 17th 2020 - 07:13 UTC
Pompeo confident the West is winning and will prevail over Russian and Chinese “empire desires”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended on Saturday his nation's global role despite misgivings in Europe, vowing that Western values would prevail over Russian and Chinese desires for “empire”.
Monday, February 17th 2020 - 07:00 UTC
US influenza season, the worst in ten years and particularly severe with children, according to CDC

The number of children dying from influenza in the United States is higher at this point in the flu season than it has been in 10 years, and the virus is gaining momentum, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.