Stories for August 2026

Tuesday, August 4th 2026 - 15:29 UTC
Uruguay: preliminary deal signed in construction to cut working hours

Uruguay's construction workers' union, Sunca, and the sector's employer chambers reached a preliminary agreement on Tuesday to progressively reduce the working week from 44 to 40 hours, after more than four months of negotiations and industrial action.
Tuesday, August 4th 2026 - 06:21 UTC
Around 140 vessels stranded at Argentine ports after government deregulation decree

Around 140 vessels were waiting on Monday to enter or leave Argentine ports after maritime pilots stopped accepting new assignments in protest at a decree deregulating their profession. The figures come from industry sources; some reports put the number above 150.
Tuesday, August 4th 2026 - 06:00 UTC
Toledo seeks release on health grounds, saying he does not want to die in prison

Former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo, 81, has asked President Keiko Fujimori to expedite the presidential pardon he requested on humanitarian grounds, in an interview given on Sunday from Barbadillo prison to the program Sin Rodeos on Panamericana Televisión.
Monday, August 3rd 2026 - 23:14 UTC
Milei: the alliance with Washington is the “key” to sovereignty over the Falklands

Argentine President Javier Milei said on Monday that his government's alignment with the United States will advance Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Falklands, in remarks to Radio Mitre.
Monday, August 3rd 2026 - 20:24 UTC
Infantino opponents threaten non-cooperation with FIFA unless he resigns

Officials opposed to FIFA president Gianni Infantino are considering withdrawing cooperation with the governing body for as long as he remains in office, according to UEFA sources cited by the BBC, as the fallout deepens over the plan to open a commercial subsidiary handling the rights to its tournaments to private investors.
Monday, August 3rd 2026 - 20:17 UTC
Argentina: $LIBRA investors to file civil suit after mediation fails

Un grupo de inversores que se consideran perjudicados por el lanzamiento del criptoactivo $LIBRA presentará una demanda por daños y perjuicios en el fuero civil argentino, tras no alcanzar un acuerdo en la instancia de mediación obligatoria previa.
Monday, August 3rd 2026 - 18:48 UTC
Traditional right-wing technocrats and Christian voices will share Colombia's new cabinet

Colombia's president-elect, Abelardo de la Espriella, has completed all eighteen posts in his cabinet four days before taking office, with a team that will combine technical profiles drawn from the traditional right with figures close to Christian movements and to positions aligned with Trumpism.
Monday, August 3rd 2026 - 18:47 UTC
Rhine barges run at 20% of capacity as freight rates surge

Falling water levels on the Rhine are forcing barges to operate with a fraction of their usual load and have sharply raised the cost of river transport, as drought and extreme temperatures affect Europe's main inland waterways.
Monday, August 3rd 2026 - 16:08 UTC
Milei on Lula: released over a procedural flaw, not for being innocent

Argentine President Javier Milei repeated his accusations against Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday, arguing that the corruption convictions once against him were annulled on formal grounds, in remarks that came just as Brazil's ambassador to Buenos Aires was preparing to return after being recalled for consultations.
Monday, August 3rd 2026 - 07:24 UTC
Milei says he has chosen a 2027 running mate amid rupture with his vice president

Argentine President Javier Milei said he has already decided who will run alongside him as vice-presidential candidate in the October 2027 elections, while withholding the name, in remarks that come amid an open confrontation with his current vice president, Victoria Villarruel.