South America

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has pardoned 15 people, including a pair of congressional Republicans who were strong and early supporters, a 2016 campaign official ensnared in the Russia probe and former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.

MONTEVIDEO, Dec 22 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The Uruguayan parliament passed a bill limiting the constitutional right of assembly and closing the borders, both temporarily as part of a package of measures to help contain a spiked of the coronavirus virus.

The bill was approved in the Lower House following a long debate and immediately after the Senate gave it half sanction.

SAO PAULO, Dec 21 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil’s health ministry, yesterday, reported 408 deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll in the country to 186,764.

During the same period, another 25,445 cases were registered, bringing the national tally to 7,238,600. Brazil ranks third in the world in the number of confirmed cases, behind the United States and India.

One of those who died yesterday was 87-year-old actress, Nicette Bruno. Bruno was one of the pioneers in television soap operas in Brazil.

SANTIAGO, Dec 20 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Chilean President Sebastian Piñera was slapped with a US$ 3,500 fine after posing for a selfie on the beach with a bystander without wearing a mask as required during the coronavirus pandemic, health authorities said.

Chile has strict rules on mask wearing in all public places and violations are punishable with sanctions that include fines and even jail terms. Piñera apologized then turned himself in shortly after the selfie surfaced on social media in early December.

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro said in a video published on Saturday that his finance minister Paulo Guedes assured him he will stay on in the government until the end of his administration.

Bolsonaro acknowledged in the video that Guedes is unhappy because of the difficulties experienced in implementing his economic agenda, which involve significant cuts in public spending and a tax reform long-awaited in financial circles.

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly, a pro-government legislature created in 2017 that was widely criticized for undermining democracy, will cease operations at the end of 2020, President Nicolas Maduro said on Friday.

The all-powerful institution was officially designated to reform the constitution, but in practice ended up supplanting the opposition-controlled legislature and sacking public officials who challenged the government.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. added a second COVID-19 vaccine to its arsenal Friday, boosting efforts to beat back an outbreak so dire that the nation is regularly recording more than 3,000 deaths a day.

Much-needed doses are set to arrive Monday after the Food and Drug Administration authorized an emergency rollout of the vaccine developed by Moderna Inc. and the National Institutes of Health.

LIMA (Reuters) - Ruben Guevara was marching in teargas-filled streets in Lima in November when he was hit in the face by what felt like a gas canister, severely damaging his right retina.

“We were protecting people who had already fallen to the ground and police kept moving forward and shooting straight at us,” said Guevara, 32, a father of two.

SANTIAGO, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Latin America and the Caribbean will see economic growth in 2021, but not enough to match pre-pandemic levels of economic activity, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said on Wednesday.

According to the United Nations agency, the regional economy will plunge 7.7 percent in 2020, then see a positive growth rate of 3.7 percent in 2021, "insufficient for recovering the economic activity levels seen prior to the coronavirus pandemic."

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 14 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Argentina’s lower house of Congress has approved a bill to legalize abortion, a big step forward for the legislation that could set the tone for a wider shift in conservative Latin America.

The draft law, which would allow the legal termination of pregnancies up to the 14th week, was passed with 131 votes in favor, 117 against and six abstentions. It will now move up to the Senate, where an even tighter vote is expected.