Stories for May 13th 2025

Tuesday, May 13th 2025 - 20:40 UTC
International aviation agency rules Moscow was behind downing of Flight MH17

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) ruled Tuesday that Russia was responsible for the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, killing all 298 people on board. Although victims included Britons, Belgians, and Malaysians, 196 stemmed from the Netherlands.
Tuesday, May 13th 2025 - 20:26 UTC
Brazil and China issue joint statements regarding ongoing world affairs

Brazil and China released two joint statements Tuesday following a meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and other encounters in Beijing.
Tuesday, May 13th 2025 - 19:18 UTC
José “Pepe” Mujica, Uruguay’s iconic former President, dies at 89

José Alberto “Pepe” Mujica, former President of Uruguay and a global symbol of humility and social justice, has passed away at the age of 89. “He leaves as he lived, as a man of the people, a voice for the humble, a fighter for justice. Farewell, Pepe. Thank you for so much,” President Yamandú Orsi wrote on social media, announcing the death of one of Latin America’s most iconic leaders.
Tuesday, May 13th 2025 - 10:55 UTC
Uruguay: Former President Mujica critically ill

Former Uruguayan President José Mujica is in the terminal phase of esophageal cancer and is receiving palliative care to ease his pain, his wife and former Vice President Lucía Topolansky confirmed. In April 2024, the former guerrilla fighter went public about the tumor for which he received 31 radiotherapy sessions.
Tuesday, May 13th 2025 - 10:09 UTC
Colombia to join China's Belt and Road Initiative

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced in Beijing Monday that his country would be joining China's Belt and Road Initiative, also known as the Silk Road.
Tuesday, May 13th 2025 - 09:59 UTC
Labour announces tough new immigration measures “to bring the system back to control”

In a major policy announcement UK PM Sir Keir Starmer has promised the government's new immigration measures will mean net migration falls “significantly” over the next four years. The prime minister unveiled plans to ban recruitment of care workers from overseas, tighten access to skilled worker visas and raise the costs to employers in an effort to curb near record net migration.
Tuesday, May 13th 2025 - 09:57 UTC
Maduro highlights latest agreements with Russia

Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro underscored Monday that the historic “highest strategic level” treaty with Russia signed in Moscow during his visit to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory over Nazism as the result of a 24-year relationship between the two countries.
Tuesday, May 13th 2025 - 09:51 UTC
Chile: Presidential frontrunner wants maximum security prison built in the desert

Presidential candidate Evelyn Matthei proposed building a maximum security prison in the Atacama desert, north of Copiapó, to combat organized crime by isolating the leaders of Chile's criminal gangs.
Tuesday, May 13th 2025 - 09:37 UTC
Fitch ups Argentina's grading by one notch

Fitch Ratings upgraded Argentina's long-term foreign currency debt rating from CCC to CCC+, citing the rapid economic recovery under President Javier Milei. Key factors include a new US$ 20 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement, with an initial US$ 12 billion disbursement boosting reserves to US$38 billion, and the liberalization of the exchange market an AR$ 1,000 / AR$ 1,400 band per US dollar.
Tuesday, May 13th 2025 - 09:17 UTC
US-Israeli hostage released by Hamas

The pro-Palestine terrorist organization Hamas Monday released 21-year-old US-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander after 19 months of captivity in Gaza, following the Oct. 7, 2023, raids resulting in the kidnapping of 251 people and the deaths of 1,200 others.