Stories for October 26th 2020

Monday, October 26th 2020 - 09:56 UTC
Chile overwhelmingly approved a constitutional reform with a specially elected assembly

The referendum in Chile was held on Sunday with a resounding result in favor of reforming the constitution. After last year's social protests, it was decided to consult citizens if they wanted to begin the process of promulgating a new Chilean constitution, leaving the one approved during the time of Augusto Pinochet in 1980 without effect.
Monday, October 26th 2020 - 09:50 UTC
Drought and wildfires devastating South America's wetlands and forests

Experts say the wildfires in a region that spans Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay – especially the region between the Paraguay, Parana, and Uruguay rivers – have become critical in 2020.
Monday, October 26th 2020 - 09:40 UTC
Uruguay will not host tourists this summer season; borders will remain “technically closed”

“Dear brothers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, the rest of the region and the world, this summer we will not be able to host you as we do every summer. I want you to know that it is a very painful decision, because as Uruguayans and hosts we love to receive you and there is nothing we would love most than to share the summer season with you”, is the video message from Uruguay's Tourist minister German Cardoso to the potential visitors.
Monday, October 26th 2020 - 09:18 UTC
US Coast Guard will increase presence in the Pacific to contain the threat of China's IUU fishing

US national security adviser said the US Coast Guard (USCG) was basing Enhanced Response Cutters in the western Pacific for maritime security missions, citing illegal fishing and harassment of vessels by China.
Monday, October 26th 2020 - 09:10 UTC
Researcher study of seabird ecosystem shift in the Falklands

Roughly 5,000 years ago, seabirds colonized the Falkland Islands in record numbers. The new research – published in the journal Science Advances – suggests the seabirds arrived around the same time that the South Atlantic cooled, and their arrival shifted the ecosystems on the Falkland Islands.
Monday, October 26th 2020 - 08:55 UTC
Leopoldo López arrives in Madrid; Maduro accuses the Spanish ambassador of assisting a “terrorist”

After more than six years in confinement, Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López is a free man and has been reunited with his family in Madrid. López arrived Sunday in the Spanish capital following what aides described as a whirlwind escape from the Spanish ambassador's residence in Caracas where he had been holed up since leading a failed U.S.-backed military putsch against Nicolas Maduro in April 2019.
Monday, October 26th 2020 - 08:00 UTC
Coronavirus: Spain declares national state of emergency and night time curfew

Spain has declared a national state of emergency and imposed a night-time curfew in an effort to help control a new spike in Covid-19 infections. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the curfew, between the hours of 23:00 and 06:00, would come into force on Sunday.
Monday, October 26th 2020 - 07:18 UTC
Another shark attack in Australia's Great Barrier Reef

A 59-year-old man is in critical condition after a shark attacked him on Sunday at Australia's Great Barrier Reef, near the north Queensland city of Townsville, rescuers said.