Stories for December 2023

Wednesday, December 27th 2023 - 10:25 UTC
Covid-19: Pirola strain detected in Argentina

Argentine health authorities Tuesday confirmed the first case of the JN.1 strain of the SARS-Cov-2 virus, also known as Pirola, which has been labeled a variant of interest (VOI) by the World Health Organization (WHO) last week.
Wednesday, December 27th 2023 - 10:20 UTC
Brazil: Same-sex marriages on the rise

According to a study from the National Human Rights Observatory (ObservaDH), 59,620 same-sex marriages were registered in South America's largest country between 2013 and 2021, Agencia Brasil reported. The new figures represented a 148.7% increase in nine years, it was also explained. In the same period, 59,620 civil unions were also recorded, the survey showed.
Wednesday, December 27th 2023 - 10:00 UTC
Maduro touts Venezuela's economic recovery

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro insisted Tuesday that his country is continuing its economic recovery despite sanctions and other obstacles. He spoke of a “war economy” that has led Venezuela to diversify its activities and achieve 100% national production
Wednesday, December 27th 2023 - 08:51 UTC
English charity claims homelessness in rural areas has climbed 40% in past five years

British Countryside Charity, formerly Council for the Protection of Rural England, CPRE, claims that homelessness in rural England has increased 40% over the past five years, and illustrates with figures, 17,212 in 2018 o 24,143 this year.
Wednesday, December 27th 2023 - 08:23 UTC
Mexicana's rocky return to the skies

Mexicana's Flight 1788, the carrier's maiden flight after being rescued from bankruptcy by the Government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, made the headlines Tuesday for all the wrong reasons after diverting to Mérida from its original destination: Tulum.
Wednesday, December 27th 2023 - 07:53 UTC
UK will keep the EU kilos and liters measuring systems, but pints are to prevail when it comes to wines

Despite Brexit, the United Kingdom is not planning to change metric laws inherited from the European Union, meaning traders can use Britain's traditional imperial weighing system only alongside the metric one. This follows a public consultation with nearly 99% of respondents saying they were happy with kilos and liters.
Wednesday, December 27th 2023 - 07:38 UTC
Fears of 'deforestation rush' in tropical rain forest if Brazilian congress passes bill to pave Amazon highway

The lower house of Brazil's Congress passed a bill that allows the paving of highway BR319, which crosses the heart of the Amazon basin and which scientists and environmentalists claim threatens the future of the world's largest tropical rainforest. The bill still has to be approved by the Senate.
Tuesday, December 26th 2023 - 10:55 UTC
Impending job losses to deepen Argentina's crisis in the short run

The administration of President Javier Milei is planning not to renew the contracts of some 7,000 state workers, which would add to the hardships many Argentine families are going through amid deep reforms to recover from the country's current crisis, it was reported in Buenos Aires.
Tuesday, December 26th 2023 - 10:44 UTC
Argentina's BCRA planning larger-denomination bills

Argentina's Central Bank (BCRA) is entertaining the possibility of issuing AR$ 20,000 and 50,000 bills in a move to keep up with inflation and eliminate the need for large wads of banknotes for nearly every cash transaction.
Tuesday, December 26th 2023 - 10:22 UTC
Milei says Argentine opposition leaders are corrupt sadists

Argentine President Javier Milei on Monday called the opposition “corrupt” and “sadistic” as he defended his emergency decree (DNU) deregulating most aspects of the South American country's economy to recover from the ongoing crisis through fiscal adjustments and cuts in public spending.