Politics

• Thursday, February 5th 2026 - 09:23 UTC

  Brazil: Lula leads first-round scenarios but faces tighter runoffs, poll suggests

  

  Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva remains the front-runner across all first-round matchups for Brazil’s 4 October presidential election, according to a new survey by Instituto Ideia published by digital outlet Canal Meio.

• Thursday, February 5th 2026 - 05:41 UTC

  Pope Leo XIV set to visit Peru later in 2026, bishops say, as planning advances

  

  Peru’s Catholic bishops say preparations are under way for Pope Leo XIV to travel to Peru in November or the first week of December, a trip that would take the first U.S.-born pontiff back to a country where he served as a bishop and later obtained Peruvian citizenship.

• Thursday, February 5th 2026 - 05:39 UTC

  Venezuela detains Alex Saab in joint operation with United States

  

  Colombian-Venezuelan businessman Alex Saab — long portrayed by U.S. authorities as a key financial operator for Chavismo and a former Venezuelan industry minister — was detained in Caracas early Wednesday in what Colombian media described as a joint operation involving Venezuela’s intelligence service (SEBIN) and the FBI. Venezuela’s government had not issued an official confirmation by the time of publication.

• Thursday, February 5th 2026 - 00:36 UTC

  The RRS Shackleton incident when an Argentine destroyer opened fire on the research vessel

  

  On this day but in 1976 a very serious incident occurred in the South West Atlantic when the British research vessel RRS Shackleton was intercepted and fired upon by the Argentine destroyer ARA Almirante Storni, some 78 miles south of Cape Pembroke in the Falkland Islands.

• Thursday, February 5th 2026 - 00:07 UTC

  Falklands’ Port Louis settlement discoveries shared with Dr. Robert Philpott

  

  Friends of the Falkland Islands Museum and the Jane Cameron National Archives is inviting to a conference by archeologist Dr. Robert Philpott, who will be sharing his discoveries in the settlement of Port Louis on February 10.

• Wednesday, February 4th 2026 - 13:26 UTC

  King Charles moves to push Andrew out of Royal Lodge after fresh Epstein-linked disclosures

  

  King Charles III has forced his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to vacate Royal Lodge, the 30-room Windsor estate home he has occupied for years, amid renewed scrutiny stemming from newly surfaced Epstein-related material and a fresh police review of allegations tied to the late financier.

• Tuesday, February 3rd 2026 - 22:22 UTC

  Petro and Trump signal thaw after closed-door White House meeting amid talks on drugs, sanctions and Venezuela

  

  Colombian President Gustavo Petro said his first face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington went better than expected, pointing to a tentative thaw after months of public insults and policy clashes that had pushed the bilateral relationship toward open confrontation.

• Tuesday, February 3rd 2026 - 12:57 UTC

  Paraguay’s long-run growth leads South America, but income gains lag

  

  From 1960 to 2024, Paraguay posted the highest cumulative GDP expansion in South America, according to calculations published by Forbes Paraguay and Colombia’s La República, drawing on World Bank constant-2015-dollar series. Over that span, Paraguay’s economy rose from roughly US$2.8 billion to about US$46 billion (2015 prices), multiplying more than sixteen-fold.

• Tuesday, February 3rd 2026 - 12:53 UTC

  Orsi, Xi Jinping sign cooperation deals in Beijing as Uruguay backs “one China” and trade talks with Mercosur are floated

  

  China’s President Xi Jinping met Uruguay’s President Yamandú Orsi in Beijing on Tuesday, a visit framed by both sides as a bid to deepen political alignment and broaden economic ties at a moment of heightened geopolitical competition.

• Tuesday, February 3rd 2026 - 12:34 UTC

  Argentina’s stats chief quits as Milei’s government freezes inflation index overhaul

  

  Argentina’s national statistics agency, INDEC, said its director, Marco Lavagna, stepped down on Monday after more than six years in the post, just as the country was preparing to launch a revamped consumer price index (CPI). Within hours, Economy Minister Luis Caputo confirmed the methodology change would be delayed indefinitely “until the disinflation process is consolidated,” with no new date set.