MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Stories for February 17th 2026
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Tuesday, February 17th 2026 - 23:59 UTC
Peru’s Congress ousts interim President José Jerí
Peru’s Congress voted on Tuesday to remove interim President José Jerí, just four months after he took office, deepening political uncertainty only weeks before the April 12 general election.
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Tuesday, February 17th 2026 - 23:59 UTC
Argentine court declares “king of beef” bankrupt as he remains hospitalized in Punta del Este
An Argentine commercial court has declared meat businessman Alberto Samid—widely known in Argentina as the “king of beef”—bankrupt, ordering broad asset restrictions and imposing a travel ban until July 3, 2026. The ruling emerged as Samid was hospitalized at the Cantegril clinic in Punta del Este, Uruguay, and he has now been transferred to Buenos Aires on a medical flight.
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Tuesday, February 17th 2026 - 23:37 UTC
China showcases humanoid robots at its Spring Festival Gala with kung fu routines for a mass audience
China put humanoid robots front and centre at its Spring Festival Gala —the country’s biggest annual television event— featuring a choreographed martial-arts routine with traditional weapons such as swords and nunchucks, acrobatics and tightly synchronised sequences alongside human performers.
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Tuesday, February 17th 2026 - 12:00 UTC
Under Antarctic ice, Earth’s deepest gravity “low” points to a 70-million-year story
A new study has reconstructed the evolution of the planet’s strongest nonhydrostatic geoid depression —the Antarctic Geoid Low (AGL)— finding that the feature has persisted for at least 70 million years and underwent a major shift in both position and strength between roughly 50 and 30 million years ago.
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Tuesday, February 17th 2026 - 04:06 UTC
US, Canada and Mexico face measles outbreaks months before World Cup 2026
With fewer than four months to go before the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off, the United States, Canada and Mexico —the tournament’s three host countries— are reporting significant measles resurgences, a highly contagious disease that had been pushed back across the region through routine immunization. Health authorities and international bodies are urging stronger vaccination and surveillance as public trust in vaccine guidance frays.
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Tuesday, February 17th 2026 - 03:47 UTC
Colombian pro-Trump lawmaker asks Petro for help after ICE arrests her son
Colombian Conservative congresswoman Ángela Vergara says her 22-year-old son, Rafael Alfonso Vergara, has been detained in the United States by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and had spent “18 days jailed and chained” when she first went public.
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Tuesday, February 17th 2026 - 03:15 UTC
Dynamic market for RWS certified Merino wool in Uruguay
The Uruguayan wool market has become particularly dynamic during this 2025/26 season, reflecting events in Australia where prices for clean fine wool have soared above US$ 12 per kilo, for the first time in six and a half years, very close to the maximums from 2019.
