Peruvian government names respected finance minister to shore up investor confidence

LIMA, Nov 21 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Peru’s interim president appointed veteran economist Waldo Mendoza as his finance minister in a bid to shore up investor confidence shaken by political turmoil. Interim President Francisco Sagasti swore in most of his 19-member ministerial team on Wednesday after becoming the country’s third leader in…

US names first ambassador in a decade to Venezuela, but he will operate from Bogotá

BOGOTA (Colombia), Nov 21 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Amid a breakdown in relations and absence of US diplomats in Venezuela, Washington has named its first ambassador for the South American country for the first time in a decade. However he will carry out his duties from the capital of neighboring Colombia, Bogotá. James…

Thousands of students, despite restrictions, protest in Colombia’s main cities

BOGOTA, Nov 21 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Thousands of workers and students protested in Colombia against the social and economic policies of President Ivan Duque, despite restrictions to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Protesters marched peacefully in the country’s main cities and tried to respect requirements such as the use…

Argentine president visits his Uruguayan peer for barbecue and a “relaxed meeting”

MONTEVIDEO, Nov 21 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The Argentine president Alberto Fernández made a surprise visit to Uruguay on Thursday to meet his peer Luis Lacalle Pou, with whom they shared a barbecue and according to both leaders addressed bilateral and regional affairs with special emphasis on trade prospects such as the…

Kenya: All ten bodies recovered from Lake Victoria in boat tragedy

NAIROBI, Nov 21 (NNN-KBC) — All ten bodies of fishermen aboard a boat that capsized in Honge Beach, Lake Victoria have on Friday been retrieved. The recovery of the ten bodies from waters of Lake Victoria brings to an end the three-day search for the bodies conducted by officers from…

Panama court says ex-president Martinelli to face new trial

PANAMA CITY, Nov 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A court in Panama on Friday threw out a sentence that acquitted former president Ricardo Martinelli of illegal wiretapping and corruption, and ordered him to face a new trial. The attorney general’s office said in a statement on Twitter that theSuperior Court of Appeals…

Spain to set up camps for 7,000 migrants in overwhelmed Canary Islands

Migrants rest after being rescued by coast guards in the Arguineguin harbour, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain LAS PALMAS (Spain), Nov 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Spanish government promised to set up camps and shelters for 7,000 people in the Canary Islands, to manage a surge in migrant arrivals…

Joe Biden turns 78, will be oldest serving US president

WASHINGTON, Nov 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — United States President-elect Joe Biden turned 78 on Friday (Nov 20). In exactly two months, he’ll take the reins of a politically fractured nation facing the worst public health crisis in a century, high unemployment and a reckoning on racial injustice. As he wrestles with those…

Covid-19: Portugal extends emergency as virus spreads

LISBON, Nov 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Portugal extended until Dec8 the state of emergency it imposed to bring down the coronavirus infectionrate as the second wave of the disease spreads. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced he had signed the decreeextending the emergency measures which had been due to lapse on…

Covid-19: Toronto ordered into lockdown starting Monday

TORONTO, Nov 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canada’s largest city Toronto andmuch of its suburbs will be placed under lockdown beginning Monday due to the spread of Covid-19, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced. “I’ve been clear on this: the situation is extremely serious and furtheraction is required,” Ford told journalists on Friday.…