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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, July 1st 2025 - 06:39 UTC

Stories for 2025

  • Wednesday, April 30th 2025 - 10:53 UTC

    French company suggests building suburban train lines in Montevideo

    In addition to shortening travel times, the company highlighted comfort and security benefits

    The French consortium Setec conducted a feasibility study for a passenger train connecting Montevideo and Florida, Uruguay, with service potentially starting in 2030. The study, submitted to the Uruguayan government, proposes two lines—Montevideo to 25 de Agosto and Montevideo to Progreso—using the Central Railway infrastructure with relatively low investment.

  • Wednesday, April 30th 2025 - 10:51 UTC

    Chile's Central Bank keeps basic interest rate unchanged

    Chile's Central Bank also foresaw that inflation would “continue at high levels in the immediate future”

    Chile's Central Bank unanimously decided Tuesday to keep the Monetary Policy Rate at 5%, aligning with market expectations. The bank highlighted increased global uncertainty due to U.S. tariffs under Donald Trump and geopolitical conflicts, given “uncertainty about the outlook for the global economy has increased considerably since the previous meeting, particularly following the tariff announcements made by the United States in early April and subsequent developments,” which have negatively impacted perceptions of global growth.

  • Wednesday, April 30th 2025 - 10:48 UTC

    Four people die in Spain amid mass blackout

    All four cases were linked to people with pulmonary conditions and the use of respirators

    At least four people were reported to have died as a consequence of the mass power outage that hit Spain Monday. In Ourense (Galicia), an elderly couple (81 and 77) and their son (56) died from carbon monoxide poisoning after using a generator to power a respirator during the blackout. In Alzira, a 46-year-old woman with a pulmonary condition died when her artificial respirator lost power. The outage, described as historic by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, disrupted trains, elevators, traffic lights, and telecommunications. The cause of the blackout remains unknown.

  • Wednesday, April 30th 2025 - 10:27 UTC

    Francos defends Milei's involvement in $LIBRA cryptofiasco

    Francos also accused Congress of wanting to “set up a media court”

    Argentine Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos denied before Congress Tuesday any involvement on the part of President Javier Milei in the $Libra cryptofiasco, saying the head of State had no link to the project and there was no state coordination or economic benefit.

  • Wednesday, April 30th 2025 - 10:22 UTC

    Peña tells UN global institutions need reforming

    “We need to ensure fairness, equity, and equality as the most fundamental principles of international trade,” Peña underlined

    Paraguayan President Santiago Peña addressed the UN General Assembly, criticizing the world's ineffectiveness in maintaining peace amid conflicts and calling for reform to global institutions to better support developing nations.

  • Wednesday, April 30th 2025 - 07:27 UTC

    Youth Mobility Scheme for Uruguayan and British citizens starting 2025

    The Youth Mobility poster; Uruguay was the first country in South America to join the program

    In 2025, 500 British and 500 Uruguayan nationals aged 18 to 30 years old will be able to experience life and culture in each other’s country for up to 2 years, as established in the agreement that came into effect in both countries on 31 January 2024.

  • Wednesday, April 30th 2025 - 07:19 UTC

    Darwin Plus funding, Falklands raises the issue on every possible call with UK officials

    “There are projects in limbo at the moment while people are waiting to hear what the future of Darwin and Darwin plus are,” pointed out MLA Roberts

    Amid concerns that the Darwin Plus funding for Overseas Territories could be cut, Falkland Islands lawmaker MLA Leona Roberts, underlined that key environmental funding is “always on the agenda of the Falklands”.

  • Wednesday, April 30th 2025 - 07:02 UTC

    Canadian Liberals retain office with Trump’s annexation threat ‘help’; Carney congratulated by Sir Starmer

    Mark Carney, the former chair of the Bank of England during a recent visit to 10 Downing Street to meet with Sir Keir Starmer

    Canadian Liberals led by PM Mark Carney, and with the help from Trump’s annexation threats, have retained office on Monday’s election, although a minority government, three short from a majority. Liberals managed 169 seats, Conservatives 144 out of a total 343 in the House of Commons.

  • Tuesday, April 29th 2025 - 20:55 UTC

    Supermarket sales in Argentina plummet under Milei, UBA study finds

    There are no positive signs on the demand side

    Supermarket sales in Argentina have dropped by 8% while wholesale sales have plummeted by 22% under President Javier Milei, a report from the University of Buenos Aires showed Tuesday. The decline is attributed to adjustment policies causing high inflation and tariff hikes, which eroded wage purchasing power, redirecting spending from consumer goods to basic services, thus reversing a brief recovery between January and November 2023 (before Milei took office).

  • Tuesday, April 29th 2025 - 20:31 UTC

    Cardinal Becciu agrees to step down from papal-choosing conclave

    Becciu had said he would be participating in the conclave, but now stepped down “for the good of the Church”

    Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, convicted of embezzlement in a Vatican financial scandal involving a luxury London property, agreed Tuesday to Pope Francis' decision to exclude him from the upcoming conclave starting May 7, 2025, despite initially asserting his right to participate. Becciu, sentenced to five and a half years in prison for fraud and financial irregularities, retains his cardinal title and participates in pre-conclave meetings but will not vote in the election of the next pope.