
At least 39 people were killed and more than 100 injured after two high-speed trains derailed on Sunday afternoon near the town of Adamuz, in southern Spain, marking one of the country’s deadliest rail disasters in recent years.

Wildfires sweeping through south-central Chile have killed at least 18 people—later updated by government reports to 19—and forced the evacuation of more than 50,000 residents in the Ñuble and Biobío regions amid extreme heat and strong winds.

Families across Schaumburg face a common frustration. One outdated bathroom gets fixed. Two years later, the kitchen needs work. The basement sits unfinished for another decade.

The European Union and South America’s Mercosur bloc signed their long-negotiated association and free trade agreement on Saturday in Paraguay, with Argentina’s President Javier Milei attending the ceremony and Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva absent, represented instead by his foreign minister.

On January 17, 2026, the Mercosur bloc and the European Union (EU) will formalize a comprehensive association and free trade agreement in Asunción, Paraguay, marking the culmination of nearly 26 years of negotiations, according to international and regional news outlets.

Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez met on Thursday in Caracas with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, holding talks focused on security and cooperation, US intelligence sources confirmed to EFE.

A scale model of the Endurance, the legendary polar ship of Ernest Shackleton, was officially unveiled on Thursday at the Jetty Visitor Centre in Stanley, becoming a new long-term public exhibit, according to the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust (FMHT).

Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announced Friday a “review and adjustment” of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) following the January 3 US attacks, in which 47 Venezuelan soldiers were killed and President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured, EFE reported.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed on Friday that the free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union (EU), due to be signed Saturday in Asunción, will benefit global trade, democracy and multilateralism, EFE reported.

Ten Argentine provinces are under alert for wildfire risk, as several fire fronts in Chubut and wider Patagonia have already burned more than 20,000 hectares.