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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, April 20th 2026 - 13:38 UTC

International

  • Tuesday, December 6th 2016 - 09:15 UTC

    Renzi told to remain until budget law is passed; calls for quick elections in Italy

    In a decision widely expected, president Sergio Mattarella told Renzi ”to delay his resignation until that task (of the budget law) is completed.”

    Calls mounted on Monday from populist and other opposition leaders for quick elections in Italy, seeking to capitalize on Premier Matteo Renzi's humiliating defeat in a referendum on government-championed reforms. But President Sergio Mattarella told Renzi to stay in office a bit longer until a critical budget law is passed. Some officials say Parliament could pass that law as soon as the end of the week.

  • Tuesday, December 6th 2016 - 08:33 UTC

    Human Freedom Index: Chile, Costa Rica lead in Latin America

    On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom, the non-weighted average rating for 159 countries in 2014 was 6.93.

    The Human Freedom Index 2016, (HFI), was released on Monday, the second annual report that represents the state of overall freedom in the world based on a broad measure of personal, civil and economic freedom. Co-published by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute (Canada) and the Liberales Institut (Germany) from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, it looks into 179 distinct indicators in 159 countries on issues ranging from freedom of speech and association to women’s freedoms, the extent of voluntary exchange, safety and security, the rule of law and more.

  • Tuesday, December 6th 2016 - 08:16 UTC

    On the 75th anniversary, Japan's Abe will honor Pearl Harbour war dead but not apologize

    PM Abe will pay his respects to those who died in Japan's surprise 1941 attack at the US naval base in Hawaii, which triggered World War II in the Pacific

    Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will honor war dead but won't apologize when he becomes the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor this month, a top government spokesman said on Tuesday.The move follows Barack Obama's historic May trip to Hiroshima, the first by a sitting US president, where he spoke of victims' suffering but offered no apology for dropping the world's first nuclear bomb.

  • Tuesday, December 6th 2016 - 08:09 UTC

    South Georgia coin to celebrate centenary of Endurance Expedition

    The reverse design shows the tall ship Endurance stuck in the ice in the background, with the crew pulling the sled on the ice pack in the foreground.

    The government and treasury of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands issued a new Crown coin that pays tribute to and celebrates the centenary anniversary of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, also known as the Endurance Expedition. The expedition was named after its ship and is considered by some to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

  • Monday, December 5th 2016 - 21:36 UTC

    Italian “No” wave hits Euro in Japanese markets

    Political uncertainty in Europe brings Euro closer to the US dollar in Asia

    The euro tumbled on Monday in Tokyo following the results in a referendum held in Italy on Sunday to decide whether Prime Minister's Matteo Renzi's plan to reform the Constitution should be carried out. After conceding defeat, Renzi announced he would be submitting his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella on Monday. The referendum results raised political uncertainty at continental level.

  • Monday, December 5th 2016 - 11:31 UTC

    EU sigh of relief: Austria votes for independent, rejects anti migrant candidate

    Results released shortly after the polls closed on Sunday, showed Van der Bellen with 53.5% of the vote to Hofer's 46.4%.

    Independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, a pro-EU left wing who preached moderation, has won Austria's presidential election on Sunday over right-wing populist Norbert Hofer. A former leading member of the Green Party, Van der Bellen was the hope of Austrians who wanted to stop Hofer, a leader of the anti migrant and anti EU Freedom Party.

  • Monday, December 5th 2016 - 11:06 UTC

    Euro skids to a 20-month low on Rienzi's resignation; all eyes on EU Central bank

    EU Central Bank meets Thursday amid much speculation it will decide a six month extension of its asset buying program and widen the type of bonds it can purchase.

    The Euro skidded to a 20-month low after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he would resign following a stinging defeat on constitutional reform that could destabilize the country's shaky banking system. Renzi's defeat deals a body blow to the European Union already reeling under anti-establishment anger that led to the shock exit of UK from the club in June this year.

  • Monday, December 5th 2016 - 10:53 UTC

    Italy's Rienzi resigns following rejection of his proposed constitutional reforms

    Renzi conceded the referendum in an address to the country, saying that he “takes full responsibility” for its defeat, and announced that he intends to resign.

    Italian voters have dealt a serious defeat to the government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. In a referendum Sunday, they rejected Renzi's proposed constitutional reforms, which would have changed the balance of power between the executive and Parliament.

  • Monday, December 5th 2016 - 10:49 UTC

    New Zealand Prime minister steps down after eight years in office

    “Sometimes you've got to make hard decisions to make right decisions,” Key told reporters. “This is the hardest decision I've ever made”

    New Zealand Prime Minister John Key surprised his country, announcing that he would be resigning in a week's time. Key, who is also leader of the National Party, made his decision public at a press conference on Monday local time.

  • Monday, December 5th 2016 - 08:30 UTC

    Falklands: Argentine diplomats in Geneva for talks on identifying remains of soldiers at Darwin cemetery

    Of the 237 graves at the Argentine Memorial, 123 remain as “Argentine soldier only known unto God”.

    Diplomats from the Malvinas Desk of the Argentine Foreign ministry have travelled to Geneva for crucial meetings later this week with their British, Falklands counterparts and Red Cross members to reach a definitive agreement on the DNA tests for the identification of the remains of Argentine combatants buried in the Darwin cemetery, following the 1982 conflict, reports Clarin.