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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, May 20th 2026 - 01:37 UTC

Stories for April 29th 2026

  • Wednesday, April 29th 2026 - 15:11 UTC

    Chile's labor market hits 38 months of unemployment above 8% as growth forecast is revised down

    INE attributed the increase to a 0.7% rise in the labor force, above the 0.5% registered by the employed population, which translated into a 3.3% increase in the total number of unemployed persons

    Chile's unemployment rate stood at 8.9% during the moving quarter from January to March 2026, a 0.2 percentage point increase over twelve months, according to data released on Wednesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE). The figure exceeded market expectations, which projected 8.6% according to the Bloomberg consensus, and completes 38 consecutive months with the indicator above 8%, confirming a structural weakness in the Chilean labor market that remains one of the main concerns of President José Antonio Kast's administration, in office since March 11.

  • Wednesday, April 29th 2026 - 15:08 UTC

    Lula's Supreme Court nominee defends limits on judicial power in Brazilian Senate hearing

    The vote takes on political significance five months before the October general elections, in which Lula will seek re-election

    Jorge Messias, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's nominee to fill the open seat at the Federal Supreme Court (STF), defended on Wednesday before the Senate the need to limit the power of judges, in a bid to expand support for his candidacy in what is shaping up to be a closely contested vote. The Solicitor General of the Union appeared before the Constitution and Justice Committee, where he made explicit overtures toward the Bolsonarist right-wing opposition, particularly critical of the country's top court's recent rulings.

  • Wednesday, April 29th 2026 - 13:52 UTC

    Trump tells King Charles: “Americans have had no closer friends than the British”

    The submarine bell from HMS Trump, a special gift to the President

    On the second day of his state visit to the United States, speaking before Congress, where he was repeatedly acclaimed with loud applause, King Charles III stressed the value and importance of the “indispensable” UK and US partnership.

  • Wednesday, April 29th 2026 - 13:49 UTC

    UK government borrowing costs rise to their highest since 2008 financial crisis

    The yield on the 10-year gilt, climbed back above five per cent for only the third time since the Iran war broke out.

    The extent to which UK is exposed to the ongoing energy shock, as a consequence of the Iran war, and fears or rising inflation, was exposed by the British government’s borrowing costs that have risen to their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis.

  • Wednesday, April 29th 2026 - 13:46 UTC

    US/Iran war lifting oil prices, but benefiting countries such as Australia, Norway and Brazil

    The Brazilian Real has been among the best performing major currencies against the US dollar

    The US-Iran conflict has propelled currencies from energy-exporting countries into the limelight, with windfall profits from exports of oil, gas and metals helping them to outperform the US dollar.

  • Wednesday, April 29th 2026 - 02:09 UTC

    King Charles avoids direct Iran reference and hails 'most consequential alliance' between UK and US

    Charles III is only the second British monarch to address a joint session of Congress, following his mother Elizabeth II in May 1991, shortly after the end of the Gulf War

    King Charles III delivered a 28-minute address on Tuesday to a joint session of the United States Congress in which he hailed the “special relationship” between London and Washington as “one of the most consequential alliances in human history,” in a speech that avoided any direct reference to the war against Iran or the Epstein case, two issues that have strained transatlantic ties in recent weeks. The address marked the centerpiece of the monarch's state visit to Washington, held in the framework of the 250th anniversary of American independence.

  • Wednesday, April 29th 2026 - 02:02 UTC

    Argentina expects to raise $2 billion from privatizations this year, says Minister Caputo

    “We are carrying out privatizations and concessions. The plan is to wrap them up by year-end. This will generate revenue of $2 billion,” Caputo said

    Argentina's Economy Minister Luis Caputo announced on Tuesday that the state expects to raise around $2 billion before year-end through a package of privatizations and concessions of public companies, in what constitutes one of the pillars of President Javier Milei's economic program and a central commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The remarks were made at Expo EFI, the country's main economics and finance forum, on a day when the government took concrete steps on at least two of the most significant operations on its agenda.