Stories for February 2025

Saturday, February 8th 2025 - 09:56 UTC
Argentina: Lower House gives thumbs down to open primaries

Argentina's Lower House approved this week by 162 votes in favor, 55 against, and 28 abstentions, the elimination of the so-called Mandatory, Simultaneous, and Open Primary (PASO) Elections whereby the country's constituencies chose each party's candidates. The measure proposed by the ruling La Libertad Avanza (LLA) of President Javier Milei now needs to be passed by the Senate before it can be implemented in this year's mid-terms.
Saturday, February 8th 2025 - 09:46 UTC
Brazil’s industry posts 3.1% output increase in 2024

According to a report released by Brazil's Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) this week, South America's largest country's industrial production closed out 2024 with a 3.1% from 2023's figures. These results, driven by rising employment and income, were the third-highest annually in the last 15 years.
Saturday, February 8th 2025 - 09:42 UTC
Runoff seems inevitable after Sunday's elections in Ecuador

A runoff scheduled for April 13 seems inevitable in Ecuador after this coming Sunday's elections. Pollsters do not seem to agree on the exact figures but all of them foresee that incumbent President Daniel Noboa and his leftwing challenger Luisa González would finish among the two top contenders with neither clinching a decisive majority of at least 50%.
Saturday, February 8th 2025 - 09:42 UTC
Was last month the hottest ever?

January 2025 was the hottest month ever recorded by the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, which detected the planet's temperature to be 1.75 degrees Celsius (°C) above pre-industrial levels and 0.79°C above the 1991-2020 average for the month, with a surface air temperature of 13.23°C.
Friday, February 7th 2025 - 20:32 UTC
ICC rejects Trump's sanctions and pledges to keep working

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Friday condemned US President Donald Trump's sanctions against the United Nations tribunal while pledging to keep working. The Republican leader's move was deemed an attempt to “harm its independent and impartial judicial work.”
Friday, February 7th 2025 - 19:44 UTC
Two killed as small airplane crashes into São Paulo streets

Two people were reported dead and six others injured after a light private aircraft crashed into a bus on Avenida Marquês de São Vicente, in the West Zone of São Paulo, around 7.20 am Friday. First responders were summoned to the spot and Brazil's Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Centre (Cenipa) was entrusted with the investigation into the causes of the accident.
Friday, February 7th 2025 - 12:47 UTC
Barenboim admits he has Parkinson's Disease

Argentine-born conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, KBE, confirmed that he has Parkinson's Disease but nevertheless intends to “maintain as many musical engagements as possible.”
Friday, February 7th 2025 - 09:44 UTC
Future Human Rights Secretary will be the first trans woman within Uruguay's Executive

Uruguay's future Human Rights Secretary Collette Spinetti will be the first trans woman to hold a position in the South American country's Executive Branch. She is also the third trans woman to reach public office after Michelle Suárez, who became Uruguay's first trans senator in October 2017, and Alejandra da Rosa, who was elected mayor (governor) of Tacuarembó in 2020. All three stemmed from President-elect Yamandú Orsi's Broad Front (Frente Amplio - FA).
Friday, February 7th 2025 - 09:25 UTC
Panama drops the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, but also rejects free transit of US vessels through the Canal

Panama’s President, José Raúl Mulino, announced on Thursday that the country will withdraw from the Belt and Road Initiative, the ambitious Chinese project to fund infrastructure to improve connectivity and economic cooperation with other nations. At the same time US Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified the claim that Panama “had decided to remove fees for US government vessels transiting the Panama Canal”
Friday, February 7th 2025 - 09:18 UTC
Bolivian meat producers declare emergency after export ban

The Bolivian government's ban on beef exports represents daily losses of approximately US$ 500,000 for the country's cattle farmers, warned Thursday the National Chamber of Exporters of Bolivia (Caneb). The suspension was announced by Productive Development Minister Néstor Huanca, citing the need to regulate supply and reduce the price of meat in the domestic market.