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[Lacalle Pou's return reopens the debate over opposition leadership in Uruguay]]> Lacalle Pou spoke for around half an hour before more than a thousand party members in Montevideo's Plaza Matriz, after several months of keeping a low profile The first public appearance by former Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou since leaving office, at Sunday's ceremony marking the Partido Nacional's 190th anniversary, drew contrasting readings within the governing Frente Amplio and reopened discussion of his role in the opposition.

]]> Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:56:00 GMT <![CDATA[Burnham's Labour edges ahead of Reform UK in a YouGov poll for the first time]]> The survey, conducted on August 9 and 10 among 2,417 respondents, puts Labour on 24%, two points higher than in the August 3 poll, while Reform UK falls one point to 22% The Labour Party of British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has moved ahead of Reform UK, the right-wing party led by Nigel Farage, in a voting intention survey by YouGov published on Tuesday by The Times. It is the first time this has happened in that pollster's series since Reform took the lead in early 2025.

]]> Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:44:00 GMT <![CDATA[Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia for crimes against humanity]]> Russia granted asylum to Assad and his brother, making enforcement of the sentence unfeasible while they remain in that country A criminal court in Damascus sentenced former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia on Tuesday for premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity. Assad was ousted in December 2024 and is living in exile in Moscow. It is the first public sentence handed down against the man who governed Syria for more than two decades.

]]> Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:21:00 GMT <![CDATA[Kast rules out backing bill that ties abortion access to hearing the fetal heartbeat]]> “It is legitimate for lawmakers to introduce their bills and for a debate to be generated around that, but we are not going to move forward on this matter,” the president said Chilean President José Antonio Kast said on Monday that his government would not push forward a bill introduced by lawmakers from his own coalition that would condition access to legal abortion on a woman agreeing to hear the fetus's cardiac activity.

]]> Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:18:00 GMT <![CDATA[De la Espriella gives the first earthquake toll and entrusts Colombia to Jesus Christ]]> The toll, as of 12:30 local time, is preliminary Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella reported 111 dead and 87 injured on Monday from the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck the west and center of the country, in an address containing extensive religious references. "I entrust our country to the Lord Jesus Christ," he said after chairing a meeting of the unified command post set up at the National Disaster Risk Management Unit.

]]> Mon, 10 Aug 2026 19:16:00 GMT <![CDATA[Reform UK in talks with El Salvador over sending foreign prisoners to Bukele's jails]]> The precedent invoked by Reform UK is the arrangement reached by Donald Trump's administration with El Salvador Britain's Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, has opened contacts with the government of El Salvador to transfer foreign prisoners to jails in that country should it win the next United Kingdom general election, which must be held by 2029 at the latest. The report was published on Monday by the newspaper The Sun and has not been confirmed by San Salvador.

]]> Mon, 10 Aug 2026 10:55:00 GMT <![CDATA[De la Espriella sets ten armed group leaders as his target for his first 90 days]]> The first results came over the weekend Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has pledged to capture or kill ten leaders of illegal armed groups during the first 90 days of his term, which began on Friday in Cali. The commitment, made during his campaign, is the centerpiece of the "shock plan" with which the new president seeks to reverse the negotiation policy of his predecessor, Gustavo Petro.

]]> Mon, 10 Aug 2026 08:32:00 GMT <![CDATA[Keiko Fujimori starts her term in Peru with 60% approval, Datum poll finds]]> The poll is the first national measurement since Fujimori took office on July 28, after winning the June 7 runoff by one of the narrowest margins in Peruvian electoral history Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori has begun her five-year term with a 60% approval rating, against 24% disapproval and 16% who gave no opinion, according to a Datum Internacional survey published on Sunday by the newspaper El Comercio.

]]> Sun, 09 Aug 2026 20:58:00 GMT <![CDATA[Bolivia records its first same-sex civil marriage after a court ruling]]> The couple, Fabiana Banzer and Scarlett Rocha, formally applied for a civil marriage on October 12, 2022 Bolivia has recorded its first civil marriage between two people of the same sex, held on Friday, August 7, in Santa Cruz, the country's most populous city, following a legal process that lasted three years and ten months.

]]> Sun, 09 Aug 2026 20:44:00 GMT <![CDATA[Uruguay's Partido Nacional sets a 2030 return to government as its goal]]> Former president Lacalle Pou also took part in the event and closed the proceedings. It was one of his first party appearances since he left office. Photo: Gastón Britos / EFE The president of the board of Uruguay's Partido Nacional, Álvaro Delgado, on Sunday called on members of the country's main opposition force to “build the history of the future” and set a return to government in 2030 as the first objective, so that Uruguay can “find direction again.”

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