Mercosur

• Sunday, August 27th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuela's U.N. bid thriving

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his country is gaining broad support in its bid for a U.N. Security Council seat, even as the United States tries to persuade governments to vote against Venezuela.

• Sunday, August 27th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Mexicans await election verdict

  Mexico's top election tribunal announced that it will release on Monday its ruling on the 375 challenges to the July 2 national election in which the two top vote-getters were conservative Felipe Calderon and leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

• Saturday, August 26th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  New case of mad cow confirmed in Canada

  Canadian authorities confirmed Friday that a mature beef cow from the province of Alberta had mad-cow disease or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). This is the eighth case reported in Canada.

• Saturday, August 26th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Striking Chilean copper miners ease wage demands

  Striking workers in north Chile at Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, dropped their salary increase demand from 10 to 8% in an effort to bring the three week strike to a conclusion.

• Saturday, August 26th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuelan presidential inflation: 28 candidates

  A total of 28 hopefuls have been confirmed as presidential candidates for Venezuela's elections scheduled for next December 3, Tibisay Lucena, president of the National Electoral Council announced Friday

• Saturday, August 26th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Fox and Lopez Obrador on collision course

  Mexican President Vicente Fox confirmed Friday that he will preside over official Independence Day celebrations including a military parade, in spite of protestors' sit-in encampments in Mexico City's main avenues and plaza.

• Saturday, August 26th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  US supports Argentina's nuclear program, but?

  United States respects Argentina's decision to resume production of enriched uranium but also requests assurances that the technology will not be transferred to third countries.

• Saturday, August 26th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  China's growing presence in Latin America

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in Beijing on his fourth visit to the oil-hungry Asian giant, has signed a number of energy deals covering production, refining and transportation.

• Saturday, August 26th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Dynamite found in luggage aboard flight

  A United States citizen suspected of checking dynamite in his luggage on the flight from Buenos Aires was questioned by FBI officials in Houston after bomb-sniffer dogs picked up a scent from his baggage, officials said.

• Saturday, August 26th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Lost fishermen: No drugs, no cannibalism

  Three fishermen who say they survived nine months adrift in the Pacific Ocean returned to Mexico on Friday and denied they were involved in drug trafficking or resorted to cannibalism to survive.