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COLD PARAGUAY.. As was the case across much of South America, September 2022 was an anomalously cool month. Paraguay was very cool, in fact, with temperature anomalies here ranging from -1C to a full -2C below the multidecadal norm. ... RECORD LOWS LOGGED AT BISMARK AND PARKERSBURG.. Despite the mainstream’s “Terrifying Terra Firma Broiling” rhetoric, the U.S. is still managing to bust cold records. A record low temperature of 17F (-8.3C) was recently noted at Bismarck Airport, ND — tying the same reading for the date set back in 1976 (solar minimum of weak cycle 20). A fresh record was...

In less than two weeks, one of the world's biggest democracies will hold what many are describing as its most important presidential election in years. The US has been watching this vote in Brazil closely. Why? There aren't many issues that staunch opponents in Washington ever agree on. But they are united on this. "This is going to be one of the most intense and dramatic elections in the 21st Century," former Trump aide Steve Bannon tells the BBC. "The fate of Brazil's democracy and of US relations with Brazil will be decided in the upcoming election," says Senator Patrick...

Explanation: This 180 degree panoramic night skyscape captures our Milky Way Galaxy as it arcs above the horizon on a winter's night in August. Near midnight, the galactic center is close to the zenith with the clear waters of Lake Traful, Neuquen, Argentina, South America, planet Earth below. Zodiacal light, dust reflected sunlight along the Solar System's ecliptic plane, is also visible in the region's very dark night sky. The faint band of light reaches up from the distant snowy peaks toward the galaxy's center. Follow the arc of the Milky Way to the left to find the southern hemisphere...

Turns out Nicolás Maduro's still the guy the world has to talk to in Venezuela. But recognizing Juan Guaidó as the country's legitimate president is still a useful tool. This week Colombia’s leftist President-elect Gustavo Petro said he recently discussed bilateral issues with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — despite the fact that Colombia does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state. But even top aides to President Biden are visiting Caracas lately to talk with top Maduro aides, even though the U.S. doesn't recognize Maduro, either. (On Thursday, the Biden Administration said it would make it easier for...

...the journal The Anatomical Record has published a study coordinated by Emiliano Bruner, who leads the Paleoneurology Group at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), that analyzes the distribution of certain craniovascular traits in four native populations from the late Holocene in the southernmost regions of South America.The sample includes 70 skulls, dated to between 200 and 3,000 years old, from populations of four regions in Argentina: the pampas (Buenos Aires), southern Andes (Salta), central Patagonia (Chubut), and southern Patagonia (Tierra del Fuego). The four groups do not present substantial differences although, as has been observed...

As the US increases its focus on global competition with China, officials have singled out Beijing's inroads into Latin America as a growing threat to countries there and to US interests in the region. At recent congressional hearings and public events, those officials have cautioned that China is investing in digital and physical infrastructure, natural resources and extractive industries, and in political and military relationships across Latin America and the Caribbean in a multipronged effort to secure access and influence and gain leverage over countries there in order to advance its own commercial and strategic interests. Although China's engagement with...

The surprise electoral surge of a man dubbed Colombia’s Donald Trump could scupper the left’s hopes of a historic takeover of the presidency in a race now between two anti-establishment candidates, analysts say. Maverick millionnaire Rodolfo Hernandez, 77, finished second in presidential elections Sunday with 28 percent of votes cast. He denied the frontrunner, leftist Gustavo Petro, an outright first-round victory and eliminated right-wing establishment candidate Federico “Fico” Gutierrez, whom most opinion polls had placed in clear second place.

Scientists have uncovered the remains of one of the largest pterosaurs on record, researchers announced in a study published Tuesday in the scientific journal Cretaceous Research. The fossils are from the largest-ever pterosaur found in South America, and one of the largest flying vertebrates in the world, according to researchers. The discovery of two separate animals was made in an outcrop in Argentina's Mendoza province and published in April. The Thanatosdrakon amaru is a new azhdarchid, a member of the pterosaur family of large, flying predators, predominantly from the Late Cretaceous Period. The name is a combination of Thanatos, the...

The first solar eclipse of 2022 arrives this week across parts of the Southern Hemisphere — here's how you can watch the event live online from other parts of the world. On April 30, a partial solar eclipse will be visible over parts of Antarctica, South America and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. While skygazers in the U.S. won't get to see the partial solar eclipse in person, they can watch a livestream of the celestial event online. The partial solar eclipse of April 2022 will first be visible at 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT). The maximum eclipse will happen...

As a punishing, record-breaking drought enters its 13th year, Chile has announced an unprecedented plan to ration water for the capital of Santiago, a city of nearly 6 million. “A city can’t live without water,” Claudio Orrego, the governor of the Santiago metropolitan region, said in a press conference. “And we’re in an unprecedented situation in Santiago’s 491-year history where we have to prepare for there to not be enough water for everyone who lives here.” The plan features a four-tier alert system that goes from green to red and starts with public service announcements, moves on to restricting water...

Thirty-eight million years ago, tropical jungles thrived in what are now the cornfields of the American Midwest and furry marsupials wandered temperate forests in what is now the frozen Antarctic. The temperature differences of that era, known as the late Eocene, between the equator and Antarctica were half what they are today. A debate has been ongoing in the scientific community about what changes in our global climate system led to such a major shift from the more tropical, greenhouse climate of the Eocene to modern and much cooler climates. New research results published in this week's issue of the...

Law enforcement agencies call it "crime tourism" -- groups of thieves from South America traveling to California to burglarize homes. Surveillance video released by Hillsborough police shows a burglary crew believed to be from South America targeting a luxury home. It's just one in a series of crimes involving burglars from out of the country, hitting homes in affluent communities up and down the state. Earlier this month, the Ventura County Sheriff's Office arrested a four-man crew that robbed a home in a Camarillo neighborhood. "This is crime tourism. They're coming here for the purpose of targeting neighborhoods," said Cmdr....

Audio tape released by former US official reveals the association of mysterious sound with Havana syndrome. The audio recording was made by a former US official in Cuba.On Sunday, a former US official released an audio tape with CBS News that purports to demonstrate a sound linked to Havana Syndrome, a strange sickness with unknown origins that has sickened US officials, warriors, and intelligence professionals.The former official, who did not want to be identified, said he became sick at his house in Havana, Cuba, and informed CBS’ ’60 Minutes’ about it. He reported the sound as “just loud sound” which...

We're way past "normal" times, but in any world that remotely resembles "normal", Bobulinski came with enough credibility, facts and receipts to bury Joe Biden's Presidential campaign six feet below the surface of the Earth. Dates, times, names, texts, emails, . . . The most explosive part to me was the revelation that Hunter Biden was acting as Ye Jianming's personal lawyer even as Ye, as chairman of the Chinese CCP-linked energy company "CEFC", was negotiating the purchase of a 14% state in Russia's state-owned energy company. If that's not somehow treasonous, I don't know what would be. But there's...

Venezuela is moving troops to the border with Colombia with technical assistance from Russia and Iran, Colombia's defense minister Diego Molano said on Thursday, calling the possible deployment "foreign interference." Molano, citing intelligence sources, said troop movements were registered in Venezuela opposite Colombia's Arauca province, the scene of fierce fighting between guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and FARC dissidents for control of the drugs trade.

REVEALED: The 60,000 US troops already based in Europe that Biden might call into action to defend against Russian aggression: American warships, stealth fighter jets, tanks and bombers could now train their sights on Putin.The USS Harry S. Truman and its strike group will participate in a NATO exercise in the Mediterranean until February 4; Biden said he and European leaders had 'total unanimity' about the situation in the Ukraine; The White House said NATO has emphasised a desire for a diplomatic solution; Putin discussed a 'strategic partnership' with Cuba in a phone call with President Miguel Díaz-Canel, days after...

China has inked a new deal with leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean to deepen ties across almost all areas of society in what one analyst likened to a plot to 'take over' the region. As part of the deal, Beijing has committed to supplying the region with 'civilian' nuclear technology, helping to develop 'peaceful' space programmes, building 5G networks of the kind Washington warns will be used to spy on people, and to pumping in cheap loans and financing for 'elaborate development plans.' China has even pledged to build schools and fund classes teaching Chinese language and 'culture',...

For Immediate ReleaseTuesday, October 5, 2021Office of Press Relationspress@usaid.govToday, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is launching an ambitious new project that will work with partner countries and the global community to build better preparedness for future global health threats. Discovery & Exploration of Emerging Pathogens - Viral Zoonoses (DEEP VZN), a five-year, approximately $125 million project (pending availability of funds), will strengthen global capacity to detect and understand the risks of viral spillover from wildlife to humans that could cause another pandemic.The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how infectious diseases threaten all of society, up-ending people’s lives and...

We are on a cruise around the tip of South America. Somehow Facebook is now in a foreign language. How in the h--- did that happen? I use to know how to set it back to Englisg but don't see the option anymore.

The Omicron variant of coronavirus is 2.4x more likely to reinfect people than the original stain, a study from South Africa suggests. The research, which has not been peer-reviewed, found people who had tested positive for Covid could pick up the virus again. It did not say how the variant will behave when spreading in a highly vaccinated population such as the UK, or whether the virus can evade the protection offered by vaccines against severe disease.... ..."We believe that vaccines will still, however, protect against severe disease because we've seen this decrease in protection using vaccines with the other...