South America

RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 22 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) -Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, signed into law, the Provisional Measure of Economic liberalisation bill, which seeks to reduce bureaucracy in business activities.

It was Bolsonaro’s first governmental act, since the beginning of the month, when he had to undergo an hernia surgery.

According to the government, the new law will reduce bureaucracy and make it easier for Brazilians to start a business and close deals.

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and CHRISTINE ARMARIO

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s president compared Nicolás Maduro to Serbian war criminal Slobodan Milosevic as he goes on a diplomatic offensive to corral the Venezuelan socialist, warning that he would be making a “stupid” mistake if he were to attack his U.S.-backed neighbor.

RIO DE JANEIRO, September 21. / TASS /: Brazil expressed interest in the participation in the Russian synchrotron-neutron research program, First Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Russia Grigori Trubnikov told TASS on Saturday.

BUENOS AIRES, Sept 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Argentina’s former president Cristina Kirchner is to stand trial for a fourth time on corruption charges, even as the leftist opposition leader vies for the position of vice president in elections next month.

The 66-year-old, who served two terms as president, is accused of having taken US$160 million in bribes for steering public works contracts towards favored businessmen close to her and her late husband Nestor, who served as president before her.

No date for the latest re-trial has been announced.

CARACAS, September 18. /TASS/: The Venezuelan government is ready to engage in a new round of Norway-mediated talks with the opposition at any moment, the country’s President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday.

"When Norway would want to invite us to a new meeting to revew the clauses that we had discussed with them and the opposition, we will give our consent regardless of when, where and how the meeting will be held," Maduro said in a speech aired via Twitter.

Tegucigalpa (Honduras), Sep 17: A failure in Central America's electrical grid left millions of people without power for hours in at least four countries Monday.

Honduras was the country hardest hit, with the entirety of its territory and its more than 9 million inhabitants affected.

Traffic snarled as more than 600 stoplights went dark in the capital, Tegucigalpa.

Leonardo Deras of Honduras' state electric company said at a news conference that the problem arose from an overload at a substation on the Caribbean coast.

ALTO RIO GUAMA INDIGENOUS RESERVE, Brazil (AP) — Deep in the Amazon rainforest, there is talk of a looming conflict over land.

The men in the Tembe indigenous group sometimes daub themselves in traditional war paint and patrol the forest. They carry bows and arrows, but feel increasingly vulnerable as they brace for run-ins with illegal loggers.

CARACAS, Sept 17 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — The Government and the opposition of Venezuela signed on Monday an agreement and installation of the National Dialogue Table for Peace, in accordance with the principles of sovereignty and self-determination of the South American country.

With the purpose of contributing to a political solution among Venezuelans, both parties agreed to deal with the promptness and urgency of the case, the new formation of the National Electoral Council and the guarantees that must accompany the voting processes.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A fire raced through a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, forcing staff to wheel patients into the streets on stretchers or in wheelchairs and killing at least 11 people, many of them elderly.

Four firefighters were hospitalized after battling the overnight blaze at Badim Hospital and about 90 patients were transferred to other hospitals, the fire department said. A rope made from bedsheets and used in an attempt to escape the fire still hung from an upper floor window of the hospital Friday.

CARACAS, September 13. /TASS/: Direct flights will start soon between Caracas and Moscow, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Thursday.

"Very soon direct flights will be launched between Caracas and Moscow for young people to be able to spend holidays in Russia," he said in a statement, which was broadcast on Twitter.

Maduro did not provide more details on the plans on the flights launch.