Stories for August 2026

Monday, August 10th 2026 - 14:29 UTC
Colombia records its strongest earthquake in a decade, geological service says

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake shook western and central Colombia on Monday, causing damage in several cities and affecting six airports. It is the strongest earthquake recorded in the country in the past decade, according to the Colombian Geological Service (SGC). No official casualty figures have been released so far.
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Monday, August 10th 2026 - 10:55 UTC
Reform UK in talks with El Salvador over sending foreign prisoners to Bukele's jails

Britain's Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, has opened contacts with the government of El Salvador to transfer foreign prisoners to jails in that country should it win the next United Kingdom general election, which must be held by 2029 at the latest. The report was published on Monday by the newspaper The Sun and has not been confirmed by San Salvador.
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Monday, August 10th 2026 - 09:33 UTC
Bitcoin's Persistent Value as an Inflation Hedge in Mercosur's Stabilizing Economies

Fiscal reforms are reshaping parts of South America right now, and that's forcing a lot of portfolio conversations that wouldn't have made sense two years ago. Digital assets, once treated purely as emergency exits from collapsing currencies, are getting a second look. Not because they've changed. Because the ground underneath them has shifted.
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Monday, August 10th 2026 - 08:32 UTC
De la Espriella sets ten armed group leaders as his target for his first 90 days

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has pledged to capture or kill ten leaders of illegal armed groups during the first 90 days of his term, which began on Friday in Cali. The commitment, made during his campaign, is the centerpiece of the “shock plan” with which the new president seeks to reverse the negotiation policy of his predecessor, Gustavo Petro.
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Sunday, August 9th 2026 - 20:58 UTC
Keiko Fujimori starts her term in Peru with 60% approval, Datum poll finds

Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori has begun her five-year term with a 60% approval rating, against 24% disapproval and 16% who gave no opinion, according to a Datum Internacional survey published on Sunday by the newspaper El Comercio.
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Sunday, August 9th 2026 - 20:44 UTC
Bolivia records its first same-sex civil marriage after a court ruling

Bolivia has recorded its first civil marriage between two people of the same sex, held on Friday, August 7, in Santa Cruz, the country's most populous city, following a legal process that lasted three years and ten months.
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Sunday, August 9th 2026 - 20:37 UTC
Uruguay's Partido Nacional sets a 2030 return to government as its goal

The president of the board of Uruguay's Partido Nacional, Álvaro Delgado, on Sunday called on members of the country's main opposition force to “build the history of the future” and set a return to government in 2030 as the first objective, so that Uruguay can “find direction again.”
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Sunday, August 9th 2026 - 20:05 UTC
Machado congratulates De la Espriella and says Venezuela will soon follow suit

Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado congratulated Colombia's new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, and said Venezuela would “very soon” undertake a process of institutional and democratic strengthening similar to the one she said is beginning in the neighboring country. The Colombian president replied on Sunday thanking her for the support.
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Saturday, August 8th 2026 - 07:52 UTC
De la Espriella sworn in before Congress in Cali, delivers first speech to the military

Abelardo de la Espriella took office as president of Colombia in Cali on Friday, the first time a Colombian leader has been sworn in outside Bogotá, and delivered his first speech at an Army battalion rather than before Congress, breaking with the country's institutional tradition.
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Saturday, August 8th 2026 - 07:48 UTC
Falklands: 'South Atlantic Sentinel' exercise involves all three services

In late July, forces from the three services stationed at Mount Pleasant Complex in the Falkland Islands — headquarters of British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI) — took part in a series of military exercises designed to demonstrate their speed of response and operational integration, under the banner of the deployment's name, South Atlantic Sentinel.
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