Stories for May 2026

Wednesday, May 20th 2026 - 23:49 UTC
Brazilian Public Prosecutor's Office asks not to renew license of country's sole uranium mine

Brazil's Federal Public Prosecutor's Office on Wednesday recommended that the Brazilian Institute of Environment (Ibama) not renew the environmental license of the country's only uranium mine, in operation since 1999, until the responsible company duly consults the quilombola communities potentially affected by the activity. The recommendation does not amount to a definitive closure of operations, but it does entail a suspension conditional on compliance with the requirement of prior consultation of the populations affected by the project, in line with the national and international norms in force.
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Wednesday, May 20th 2026 - 23:38 UTC
Argentina opens economic bids for Paraná-Paraguay waterway amid warnings of irregularities

The government of Javier Milei proceeded on Tuesday to open the economic bids submitted by the two international consortia competing for the 25-year concession of the Paraná-Paraguay waterway, Argentina's main fluvial trade artery, despite a warning from the Public Prosecutor's Office about the existence of “serious and obvious irregularities” that could give rise to criminal and administrative consequences. The Peronist opposition has filed a bill in Congress demanding the immediate suspension of the process.
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Wednesday, May 20th 2026 - 23:18 UTC
Bolivia escalates internal conflict into diplomatic clash with Colombia and divided regional backing

The political and social crisis that has been shaking Bolivia for 15 days escalated on Wednesday into a regional diplomatic confrontation, with the government of Rodrigo Paz expelling the Colombian ambassador to La Paz, Elizabeth García, denouncing before the Organization of American States an attempt at “institutional destabilization,” and receiving public backing from the United States and from several governments in the region. The decision was taken after Colombian President Gustavo Petro described the protests as a “popular insurrection” and said that in Bolivia “there is a people in the streets being killed,” statements considered “interfering” by La Paz.
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Wednesday, May 20th 2026 - 18:29 UTC
United States indicts Raúl Castro over 1996 shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue aircraft

The US Department of Justice on Wednesday filed formal charges against former Cuban president Raúl Castro and five other Cuban military officers on counts of murder, conspiracy to murder US citizens, and destruction of aircraft, in connection with the shootdown on 24 February 1996 of two civilian planes operated by the anti-Castro organization Brothers to the Rescue. The indictment, approved on 23 April by a grand jury of the Southern District of Florida, was unveiled at the Freedom Tower in Miami on the same day the Cuban diaspora commemorates Independence Day, a date the Havana regime does not celebrate. It is the first time in nearly 70 years that a senior leader of the Cuban regime has faced criminal charges in the United States over events that resulted in the deaths of US citizens.
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Wednesday, May 20th 2026 - 01:39 UTC
Chile: Security and Spokesperson ministers fall in first cabinet reshuffle of Kast's government

Chilean President José Antonio Kast on Tuesday carried out the first cabinet reshuffle of his administration and removed from their posts the Security Minister, Trinidad Steinert, and the Government Spokesperson, Mara Sedini, in a reorganization that amounts to the fastest ministerial adjustment in Chile since the return to democracy in 1990. The decision comes just over two months after the inauguration of the far-right president, against a backdrop of falling presidential approval to around 40% and an increase in public disapproval to 60%.
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Wednesday, May 20th 2026 - 01:27 UTC
The European Union unblocks tariff deal with United States after ten months of negotiation

Negotiators from the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the European Commission reached a provisional agreement in the early hours of Wednesday on the final text of the tariff pact with the United States, in a decision that closes ten months of negotiations marked by pressures, threats, and successive blockages in the European Parliament. The Cypriot presidency of the Council, exercised during the first half of 2026, confirmed the breakthrough through the X social media platform and emphasized that the aim of the agreement is to “enhance a stable and predictable trade relationship” between the two blocs.
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Tuesday, May 19th 2026 - 18:53 UTC
WHO warns of “magnitude and speed” of Ebola outbreak in Congo with 131 deaths and cases in Uganda

The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned on Tuesday before the World Health Assembly meeting in Geneva that “the magnitude and speed” with which the Ebola outbreak is spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are alarming, with more than 543 suspected cases, 131 deaths linked to transmission, and 33 laboratory-confirmed infections. Two further cases have been confirmed in neighboring Uganda, both involving Congolese citizens who had crossed the border, one of whom has died. The WHO director convened the organization's Emergency Committee to formulate containment recommendations.
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Tuesday, May 19th 2026 - 12:17 UTC
Falklands marks in May the landing of British forces and the liberation of Goose Green

May is a month of commemoration for the population of the Falkland Islands, as the 44th anniversary of the Argentine armed invasion falls this month — an occupation that was defeated and expelled following the landing of the Task Force dispatched by London.
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Tuesday, May 19th 2026 - 12:10 UTC
Bolivia: miners' dynamite and peasants' siege reach the heart of power in La Paz

The center of La Paz turned on Monday into the stage of a more than three-hour pitched battle in which thousands of salaried miners and peasants clashed with police forces trying to prevent their entry to Plaza Murillo, the seat of Bolivia's executive and legislative branches. The protesters threw dynamite charges at the police, who responded with tear gas. The cordons were not overrun, and the Army, deployed around the square as the last line of defense, did not intervene directly. The mobilization is the largest challenge President Rodrigo Paz has faced since taking office six months ago.
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Tuesday, May 19th 2026 - 02:31 UTC
Uruguay: Orsi's approval falls to 29% and disapproval climbs to 46%, new survey shows

The administration of Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi has reached its lowest approval level since he took office as head of state in March 2025, according to the national survey by the polling firm Factum released on Monday for the second two-month period of 2026. The poll places presidential approval at 29% and disapproval at 46%, while 24% of those surveyed neither approve nor disapprove of the administration. The firm describes the dynamic as “a systematic process of falling approval and rising disapproval,” confirming the trend already identified last week by the polling firm Equipos, which had placed disapproval at 48%.
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