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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, June 6th 2026 - 11:31 UTC

Stories for May 17th 2026

  • Sunday, May 17th 2026 - 23:13 UTC

    Mid-air collision between two US jets at airshow ends without fatalities in Idaho

    The military base was locked down following the accident, and State Route SH-167 will remain closed for several days between Simco Road and SH-67 while investigators carry out their work

    Two US Navy EA-18G Growler jets collided in mid-air on Sunday during an aerial demonstration at Mountain Home Air Force Base in the state of Idaho, with no fatalities reported. The four crew members aboard the aircraft ejected in time and were evaluated by medical personnel at the scene, said Naval Air Forces Pacific Fleet spokesperson Amelia Umayam. No injuries were reported among base personnel or among spectators of the Gunfighter Skies airshow, during which the incident occurred.

  • Sunday, May 17th 2026 - 13:53 UTC

    Argentine Air Force bought a used aircraft at double its market price, Clarín investigation finds

    Regional One Inc. won the bid with an ERJ-140LR for $4.085M and 33,516 flight hours, despite cannibalized parts, corrosion, leaks, and four fewer seats than the only other bidder's aircraft.

    The Argentine Air Force (FAA) acquired in 2025 an Embraer ERJ-140LR aircraft for USD 4.085 million, nearly double the price the same provider had quoted for an equivalent and better-conditioned plane to a private client just months later, according to an investigation published on Saturday by the newspaper Clarín. The transaction, awarded to the US firm Regional One Inc. in a tender resolved in record time and challenged by a competitor, displays irregularities in the design of the bidding terms, the technical evaluation, and the payment circuit, and forms part, according to the publication, of a pattern replicated in at least three other aircraft purchases by the force since 2021.

  • Sunday, May 17th 2026 - 13:48 UTC

    Brazil leads South America's military spending and Uruguay posts one of the largest relative rises, SIPRI says

    The most striking data point in the region corresponds to Uruguay, which moved to a military budget of USD 577.2 million in 2025, an increase of nearly 80% in five years.

    Brazil consolidated its position as South America's leading defense spender during 2025, with a military budget of approximately USD 23.9 billion and a 13% year-on-year increase, while Uruguay recorded one of the steepest relative rises in the region, according to the annual report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released on Saturday. The region as a whole increased its military spending by 3.4% compared with 2024, in line with a global trend of armed forces modernization, open conflicts, and growing geopolitical tensions.

  • Sunday, May 17th 2026 - 05:07 UTC

    Venezuela hands over to the United States former minister and Maduro frontman Alex Saab

    The United States sanctioned him in 2019 for allegedly paying bribes to obtain no-bid contracts with the Venezuelan state

    The Venezuelan government on Saturday deported to the United States the Colombian businessman Alex Saab, considered for years the main financial operator of former president Nicolás Maduro and minister of Industry and National Production until January 2026. The businessman landed at sunset at Opa-locka airport in Miami-Dade County, escorted by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), bringing to a close a judicial file that had turned Saab into one of the most visible symbols of the economic apparatus of Chavismo and into one of the most wanted figures by US justice over the past decade.