South America

SANTIAGO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Chilean authorities on Thursday said they found the body of a British astronomer who went missing in mid-September at an observatory in the north of the country, where he had arrived for a scientific research visit.

Authorities conducted an extensive search for Thomas Marsh, of the University of Warwick, across a vast area of the La Silla observatory, located in an arid, mountainous area 600 kilometers (373 miles) north of Chile's capital, Santiago.

BRASILIA, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Brazil's leftist President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday that many expenditures considered government spending should instead be seen as investments, rattling markets still unsure on the details of his economic policies.

Lula insisted in a speech that he would maintain fiscal discipline, but his comments added to growing investor skepticism that he would keep a lid on spending. Concerns have been mounting about Brazil's public finances after major outlays through the pandemic and this year's presidential election.

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Violent fans involved in illegal associations and even those in debt for food dues are part of a list of 6,000 Argentines who will not be allowed to enter World Cup stadiums in Qatar, the Buenos Aires city government said.

“The violent ones are here and in Qatar. We want to bring peace back to football and that the violent ones are outside the stadiums,” the city’s Justice and Security Minister Marcelo D’Alessandro said in an interview on a local radio station.

LIMA, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Thousands of people took to the streets across Peru on Saturday to demand the resignation of embattled President Pedro Castillo, a leftist whose government is under investigation for corruption.

Carrying the Andean nation's vertically striped red-white-red flag and signs with anti-government slogans, protesters marched towards the opposition-dominated Congress in the capital Lima.

Castillo has called those who oppose his government "reactionaries" and "the enemies of people".

CARACAS, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- At least four people were killed by heavy rains and mudslides that hit the northeastern Venezuelan state of Anzoategui, Governor Luis Jose Marcano said Friday.

The Anzoategui governor's office posted on its Twitter account that the rains affected the Guanta and Sotillo municipalities in the northern part of the state, while heavy rains also caused road closures to the state of Sucre.

QUITO, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso announced on Thursday that 668 people have been arrested since Tuesday in the wake of violent attacks by criminal gangs during a prisoner transfer in the country.

Since Tuesday, Ecuador has experienced a series of attacks, including shootings, car bombs, in the provinces of Guayas, Esmeraldas and Santo Domingo, and five policemen and one civilian have been killed in the attacks.

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 2 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Federal prosecutor Franco Picardi charged former Argentine President Mauricio Macri for allegedly being responsible for a systematic plan of illegal espionage during his government (2015-2019), revealed today newspaper Pagina 12.    

According to the newspaper, the former president was accused of monitoring, through the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI), people like the then Senator Cristina Fernandez and her sister Florencia Macri.

QUITO, Nov 2 (NNN-Xinhua) — At least five Ecuadorean police officers were killed on Tuesday in explosive attacks in response to prisoner transfers from overcrowded and violent penitentiaries, prompting President Guillermo Lasso to declare a state of emergency in two provinces.

Lasso declared a state of emergency in the two coastal provinces of Guayas and Esmeraldas, which were hit by 12 attacks overnight.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration signaled a willingness to hand over power, two days after a nail-biting election loss to leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and amid speculation the far-right incumbent might fight the result.

Bolsonaro reportedly told members of Brazil’s Supreme Court Tuesday that his election battle against da Silva has come to an end. Earlier, in a brief speech at the presidential palace, he said: “I have always played within the four lines of the constitution,” although he stopped short of conceding.

SAO PAULO, Nov 1 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Argentine President Alberto Fernández met in Sao Paulo Monday afternoon with Brazil’s President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva to celebrate the latter’s victory in Sunday’s runoff.

The Argentine president posted a brief video on his Twitter account in which he appears embracing Lula.