South America

LIMA, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A LATAM Airlines (LTM.SN) jet collided with a firetruck on the runway as it was taking off from the airport in Peru's capital Lima on Friday, resulting in the death of two firefighters, the carrier said.

Peru's health ministry said at 7 p.m. (0000 GMT) that 20 passengers were being treated in a clinic, and at least two were in serious condition. The airline said no passengers or crew members were killed.

SANTIAGO, Nov 17 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Minutes before deadline, officials from the Chilean/Brazilian carrier Latam and the Pilots Union reached over the weekend an agreement which deactivated what seemed an unavoidable strike. The reason for the strike dates back to 2020, when Latam fired 240 pilots and cut the remaining professionals salaries by 30%.

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 16 (NNN-TELAM) – Argentina registered 88 percent year-on-year inflation last month, with prices rising 6.3 percent for an accumulated 76.6 percent spike in prices, so far this year, the National Statistics and Census Institute (INDEC) said yesterday.

The goods and services that saw the biggest jump in price, year over year, were “clothing and footwear,” with a 121.5 percent increase; “restaurants and hotels,” with a 105.2 percent rise; and “food and non-alcoholic beverages,” with a 91.6 percent increase, the INDEC said.

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.