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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, October 11th 2026 - 00:49 UTC

Politics

  • Saturday, May 9th 2026 - 14:59 UTC

    US removes 13.5 kilos of highly enriched uranium from Venezuela's RV-1 reactor

    The material, enriched above the 20 percent threshold separating low-enriched from highly enriched uranium, had been considered surplus since the reactor ceased operations in 1991

    The U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has completed the removal of 13.5 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from the former RV-1 research reactor at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), in Miranda state, in an operation coordinated with the United Kingdom, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Venezuela's transitional government.

  • Saturday, May 9th 2026 - 06:43 UTC

    Tenerife braces for race-against-time operation to evacuate 140 from MV Hondius

    The operational window is narrow. Canary Islands government spokesman Alfonso Cabello warned that the evacuation must be completed between Sunday and Monday

    Spain faces a complex international operation in Tenerife on Sunday to evacuate the passengers and crew of the cruise ship MV Hondius, struck by a hantavirus outbreak that has left three dead and five laboratory-confirmed cases among the eight identified by the World Health Organization. The Dutch-flagged vessel, carrying more than 140 people and one body still on board, will anchor off the port of Granadilla between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m. local time.

  • Saturday, May 9th 2026 - 05:49 UTC

    Argentine court reinstates full force of Milei's labor reform

    On Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected a per saltum appeal filed by the national government seeking to fast-track a definitive ruling

    An Argentine court on Friday lifted the precautionary injunction that had suspended 82 of the 218 articles of the labor reform pushed by President Javier Milei, restoring the full force of one of the most contested laws in the libertarian program.

  • Friday, May 8th 2026 - 15:37 UTC

    Venezuela confirms death of political prisoner Víctor Hugo Quero, ten months after he died

    His mother, 82-year-old Carmen Teresa Navas, had submitted multiple petitions to the prosecutor's office and the Ombudsman's Office.

    Venezuela's Ministry for Prison Services confirmed on Thursday the death of political prisoner Víctor Hugo Quero Navas, a 51-year-old merchant, nearly ten months after he died in state custody and following more than a year of forced disappearance complaints filed by his family.

  • Friday, May 8th 2026 - 05:08 UTC

    Lula and Trump declare bilateral relationship reset after three-hour meeting at the White House

    “We discussed many subjects, including trade, specifically tariffs,” Trump wrote at the conclusion of the encounter

    The presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the United States, Donald Trump, held a meeting of close to three hours at the White House on Thursday in which both leaders declared an end to one of the most severe bilateral crises in two centuries of relations between the two largest economies in the Americas. The encounter, formalized as a working meeting, unfolded in a climate of personal fluency and allowed for the agreement to establish bilateral channels to address commercial, security, and regional cooperation matters.

  • Friday, May 8th 2026 - 02:14 UTC

    United States imposes new sanctions on Cuban military conglomerate GAESA amid escalating pressure

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Thursday a new package of sanctions against the Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), the conglomerate linked to the Cuban Armed Forces that controls approximately 40% of the island's economy, in a fresh escalation of the economic pressure deployed by the Trump administration against the Havana regime. The measure is part of the implementation of Executive Order 14404, signed by President Donald Trump on May 1, which authorizes sanctions against those responsible for political repression and threats to US national security.

  • Friday, May 8th 2026 - 01:51 UTC

    First counts confirm Reform UK's advance in Labour heartlands and open the door to a leadership crisis

    Still pending are the results of the elections to the devolved parliaments of Scotland (Holyrood) and Wales (Senedd), expected on Friday afternoon

    The first ballots counted in the local elections held on Thursday across the United Kingdom confirmed the advance of the far-right Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, in territories historically dominated by Labour in the north of England and triggered the first public expressions of discontent within Prime Minister Keir Starmer's own party, in what various analysts already describe as one of the most adverse electoral nights for the ruling party since taking office in July 2024. The vote, in which more than 5,000 municipal seats across 136 local authorities and the devolved parliaments of Scotland and Wales were contested, opened the door to a potential internal crisis over Starmer's leadership.

  • Friday, May 8th 2026 - 01:20 UTC

    Falklands brace for Middle East fallout with fuel, shipping and supply contingencies

    MLA Goss said supply is covered under the agreement with Stanley Services Limited

    The conflict in the Strait of Hormuz and its consequences for the global supply of oil and other derivative products have not bypassed the Falkland Islands, which, as one local lawmaker put it, sit “at the tail end of global distribution.”

  • Thursday, May 7th 2026 - 15:08 UTC

    Lula arrives at the White House to mend fences with Trump after a year of tariffs and disputes

    The Trump administration imposed in August 2025 a 50% tariff on Brazilian products that it explicitly linked to the Bolsonaro trial, a chapter that Lula handled with diplomatic firmness

    Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was received on Thursday by his American counterpart Donald Trump at the White House, in his first official visit to Washington since his return to power in 2023 and the second face-to-face meeting between the two leaders, following a brief 45-minute encounter on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur last October. The meeting, formalized as a working session rather than a state visit, seeks to consolidate the fragile bilateral truce reached after one of the most severe diplomatic crises in two centuries of relations between the two most populous democracies in the Americas.

  • Thursday, May 7th 2026 - 14:06 UTC

    United Kingdom votes in key local elections that put Starmer's leadership to the test

    This British electoral day is compounded by international tensions that have marked the recent months of the Labour government

    British voters head to the polls on Thursday, May 7, in an election that will see the renewal of more than 5,000 seats across 136 local councils in England, six directly elected mayoralties, and the devolved parliaments of Scotland and Wales, in what various analysts and pollsters describe as the toughest electoral test for Prime Minister Keir Starmer since he took office in July 2024. Polling stations opened at 7:00 a.m. local time and will close at 10:00 p.m., with most results expected by Friday afternoon.