
With Chile’s presidential handover set for March 11, outgoing President Gabriel Boric is closing his term amid a diplomatic dispute with the United States over a China Mobile-backed undersea fiber-optic cable project that would link Chile’s coast in the Valparaíso region to Hong Kong—an issue now landing on president-elect José Antonio Kast’s desk.

Israel said on Saturday that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died during a wave of airstrikes on Iranian territory. An Israeli official, speaking anonymously to local media, said “his body has been found.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said there were “growing signs” that Khamenei had died.

The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, reigniting a regional conflict and further dimming hopes for diplomacy over Tehran’s nuclear program. Explosions were reported in Tehran as Israel moved to emergency measures and shut its airspace to civilian flights.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro are virtually tied in a simulated second-round vote for October’s election, according to an AtlasIntel survey conducted for Bloomberg News — the first poll to show the pair at parity in a head-to-head scenario.

Uruguay’s Environment Ministry on Friday granted operational authorization for a 3D seismic survey in its jurisdictional waters, in an offshore block operated by Chevron, with a specialized vessel already in position and work planned through the end of April.

A Bolivian military Hercules C-130 transport aircraft suffered an accident on Friday afternoon in El Alto, the city adjacent to La Paz, leaving at least 15 people dead, according to a preliminary toll attributed to firefighters. The aircraft overran the runway and slid onto a main avenue, striking vehicles and triggering chaotic scenes as residents attempted to collect bundles of cash scattered across the crash area.

Argentina’s Senate passed a law on Friday lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 14, a flagship “tough on crime” initiative backed by President Javier Milei. The bill cleared the upper house with 44 votes in favor, 27 against and one abstention, after it had already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies the previous week.