MercoPress https://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2026, MercoPress. https://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[From Montevideo to Luján: Leo XIV’s tour of Uruguay and Argentina]]> “It fills me with joy to return to the continent where I have lived so many moments of my life,” wrote the pontiff, who was born in Chicago and spent almost two decades as a missionary in Peru Pope Leo XIV will begin a tour of South America in Montevideo on November 6 that will take him to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, with open-air Masses, meetings with Presidents Yamandú Orsi and Javier Milei, and events with young people, workers and prisoners. His stop in Argentina, from November 8 to 11, will be the first papal visit to the country since John Paul II’s in April 1987.

]]> Sat, 31 Oct 2026 01:14:00 GMT <![CDATA[Specialised prosecutors appeal Milei’s dismissal in the $LIBRA case and seek to reopen it]]> According to the prosecutors, the investigation is not exhausted Argentina’s Office of Administrative Investigations, a specialised prosecution service for crimes committed by public officials, has appealed the dismissal of charges against President Javier Milei, his sister and presidential chief of staff Karina Milei, and nine other defendants in the case over the $LIBRA cryptocurrency, and asked for the investigation to be reopened, arguing that key evidence is still missing.

]]> Fri, 30 Oct 2026 18:21:00 GMT <![CDATA[Hackers steal US$6.3 billion in crypto from Binance in the sector’s biggest-ever heist]]> The Secret Service, the federal agency responsible for financial crimes, said it was “working around the clock” with the private sector “to identify, freeze, trace, and recover” the funds Hackers stole about US$6.3 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance, the world’s largest digital asset exchange, in the biggest theft in the sector’s history, which the US Secret Service is investigating with other agencies. Blockchain analytics firms point to a hacking group linked to North Korea, though there has been no official attribution.

]]> Fri, 30 Oct 2026 18:18:00 GMT <![CDATA[Leo XIV becomes the first pope to vote in a US election]]> The Chicago-born pope voted “as a citizen” and as he has done “whenever he has had the opportunity”, according to a statement from the Holy See press office Pope Leo XIV has voted by mail in the US midterm elections to be held on November 3, making him the first pontiff to take part in an election in that country, the Vatican said on Friday.

]]> Fri, 30 Oct 2026 17:17:00 GMT <![CDATA[Venezuela names Oliver Blanco, a former opposition aide, as foreign minister]]> A graduate in International Studies, Blanco was an aide to Henry Ramos Allup, a leader of the opposition Democratic Action party, when he presided over the National Assembly elected in 2015 Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez has appointed Oliver Blanco, a 35-year-old diplomat who began his political career alongside a veteran opposition leader, as foreign minister in a reshuffle of her government’s international team. Blanco replaces Félix Plasencia, whom Rodríguez has tasked with moving to the United Kingdom to recover Venezuelan gold held at the Bank of England.

]]> Fri, 30 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[Brazil to spend nearly three-quarters of its 2027 defence budget on personnel and pensions]]> Of the total, about 12.7 billion reais is for investment and 21.7 billion for operating costs. The proposal must be approved by Congress Brazil plans to allocate 147.68 billion reais to defence in 2027, about US$27 billion at current exchange rates, but 73% of that will go on salaries, retirement benefits and pensions, according to the budget bill sent to Congress. With only 8.6% set aside for investment, the country will have to decide the pace of programmes that include fighter jets, frigates, armoured vehicles and a nuclear-powered submarine.

]]> Fri, 30 Oct 2026 01:09:00 GMT <![CDATA[Shell and TotalEnergies double profits on a refining boom]]> France’s TotalEnergies posted adjusted net income of US$9.1 billion, against US$4 billion a year earlier and above the US$8.3 billion forecast European oil majors Shell and TotalEnergies doubled their profits in the third quarter of 2026 and posted their best quarterly results since 2022, driven by refining margins almost four times higher than a year earlier amid tensions in the Middle East, according to results published on Thursday. Both expanded their share buyback programmes.

]]> Fri, 30 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMT <![CDATA[“I am the right person”: Delcy Rodríguez casts herself as guarantor of Venezuela’s transition]]> “There will be elections, all those our Constitution requires, organised by a renewed electoral authority and with the world as witness,” Rodríguez said in an address to the nation Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday presented herself as the guarantor of democratic change in the country and promised elections organised by a “renewed” electoral authority, though she set no date. “This process can only be led by someone who knows the inner workings of the Venezuelan state deeply. I know this state and I am the right person to carry this process forward,” she said.

]]> Thu, 29 Oct 2026 17:42:00 GMT <![CDATA[The IMF urges Argentina to “stay the course” despite doubts over growth and country risk]]> On Tuesday, IMF staff and the Argentine authorities reached agreement on the third review of the Extended Fund Facility programme, which would allow a disbursement of about US$900 million The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday urged Argentina’s government to stick with its economic programme as the best way to reduce country risk, and set out four measures to turn the gains of stabilisation into growth and jobs, at a time when the press is warning of a possible technical recession.

]]> Thu, 29 Oct 2026 16:26:00 GMT <![CDATA[Falklands unveil 2026-2030 Islands Plan, with a sovereign wealth fund for energy revenues]]> Under the first priority, the Plan aims to create the conditions for the economy to grow and diversify “while also ensuring effective regulation of industries” The Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly on Thursday published the Islands Plan 2026-2030, the programme of government for the current Assembly, which provides for a sovereign wealth fund so that energy sector revenues benefit future generations and acknowledges that the government faces some of the largest projects in its history, with a capital programme of more than £300 million. Executive Council formally adopted the Plan on October 27.

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