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[Cost-of-living protests spread across Europe with unrest in France and Germany]]> The protests began a month ago at a high school on the outskirts of Paris over the state of schools and widened to the cost of living Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of France and Germany on Saturday to protest against the cost of living and deteriorating public services, in mostly peaceful demonstrations that ended in clashes between police and masked groups in several cities. In France, where the third day of protests in a month took place, 565 people were arrested.

]]> Sun, 01 Nov 2026 15:52:00 GMT <![CDATA[Argentine intellectuals reject the Falklands “national cause” amid escalating tensions with London]]> The dissenting voices come at a time of maximum tension Nearly a hundred Argentine intellectuals, jurists, historians and politicians have signed a declaration rejecting the transformation of the Falklands dispute into a “national cause” that “admits no dissent”, and criticising Javier Milei’s government for acting with “flagrant opportunism” amid escalating tensions with the United Kingdom over the Sea Lion oil project.

]]> Sun, 01 Nov 2026 14:48:00 GMT <![CDATA[Democrats seek to retake Congress in Tuesday’s US midterm elections]]> Trump has headlined 28 rallies during the campaign, all in Republican-leaning states, urging supporters to vote “as if I were on the ballot” The United States holds midterm elections on Tuesday in which the Democratic Party hopes to regain control of Congress, with the polls in its favour. At stake are all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 Senate seats, in a vote shaping up as a test of Donald Trump’s second presidency.

]]> Sun, 01 Nov 2026 14:48:00 GMT <![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[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[“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[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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