The United States on Friday called on dozens of countries to work together to combat synthetic drugs, but China declined an invitation to attend.
Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero and Corrientes Governor Gustavo Valdez Friday flew over Punta Ñaró, the border area where a diplomatic incident took place between Paraguay's Coast Guard and local fishermen, in a move to achieve a peaceful solution to the crisis.
Former Senator Paraguayo “Payo” Cubas, the National Crusade Party's (PCN) presidential candidate, who finished third in April's elections with nearly 23% of the votes, was granted house arrest Friday by Judge Raúl Florentín, it was reported. Cubas will serve his house arrest at the Armele Hotel in Asunción after posting bail. He is also forbidden to leave the country without the Court's authorization.
The Argentine Central Bank's (BCRA) monthly Market Expectations Survey (Relevamiento de Expectativas del Mercado - REM) for June released Friday forecasts inflation to reach 142.4% by the end of 2023. The study details the forecasts of institutions, companies, organizations, and specialists on the evolution of the main economic variables.
Argentine President Alberto Fernández offered his Uruguayan colleague Luis Lacalle Pou a mobile water treatment plant, supplies, and personnel to assist in the drinking water crisis affecting Montevideo and the Metropolitan area.
The French Senate Friday moved forward with a controversial measure allowing investigators to activate remotely the camera and microphone of cell phones of people under investigation without the knowledge of the persons concerned, it was reported in Paris.
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) found through its People with Disabilities module of the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Pnad Contínua) 2022 that about 18.6 million people aged two years or more (8.9% of this age group), had some form of disability, Agencia Brasil reported. Last year, 47.2% of people with disabilities were 60 years old or older, the study also detected.
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Thursday published a report called “Extraction and industrialization of lithium. Opportunities and challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean,” recommending the region's countries devise a productive development agenda around lithium to promote its extraction for the benefit of economic activities directly and indirectly related to the mineral.
Honduras' Council of Ministers has extended the partial state of exception in force from Dec. 6 until next Aug. 19, it was reported in Tegucigalpa. The measure seeks to curb violence in at least 175 of the country's 298 municipalities. However, in the municipalities of Choloma and San Pedro Sula a special curfew is in force from 11 pm to 4 am due to the seriousness of the crisis there.
Brazil's Real-Time Deforestation Detection System (Deter), of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), reported Thursday that deforestation in the Amazon in the first semester of 2023 had decreased by 33.6 % year on year and 41 % in the last 12 months.