Sebastián Piñera

Chile's former president Sebastian Pinera, a billionaire tycoon who twice held the South American nation's top job, died Tuesday in a helicopter crash, his office said in a statement.

The 74-year-old Pinera often flew himself around in his own helicopter, and was a former shareholder in the country's national airline, with stakes in television and football, among other businesses.

To be sure, the tasks confronting the European Union are daunting. Even reading the new document is daunting: a seeming welter of plans, consultations, frameworks, laws, budgets and diplomacy, and many interconnected themes, ranging from energy to transport to food to industry.

Spain proposed the 25th International Conference on Climate (COP 25) to be held in Madrid, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced today, cited by France Press.

Chile will host the UN conference scheduled for December, but yesterday Pinera said the country is refusing to organize the forum because of the social crisis it is experiencing, BTA reported.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera canceled two major international summits and said he would focus on restoring security and moving ahead in the coming days with an attempt to satisfy popular demands for better social services and a lower cost of living.

President Sebastian Pinera faced new protests on Oct. 28 after he replaced eight cabinet members including his interior and finance ministers, a house-cleaning aimed at taming the biggest political crisis since Chile's return to democracy in 1990.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Oct. 28 ended a state of emergency that lasted more than a week amid mass protests, but demonstrations continued nonetheless.    

Hundreds of thousands of people protested Wednesday against social inequalities in Chile, despite reforms announced by President Sebastian Pinera, BTA reports.

Three people died in the last 24 hours. This was announced by the Ministry of Interior. Thus, the total number of victims of the protests reached 18.

Chile's President Sebastian Pinera declared a state of emergency in the capital Santiago early on Oct. 19, as the city of 6 million descended into chaos amid riots that left a downtown building engulfed in flames and its metro system shuttered.

Chile has become the first South American country to legally ban the widespread commercial use of plastic bags.

The new legislation, approved by Congress and enacted by President Sebastián Piñera, gives small shops two years to adapt to a total ban.

Larger business will have six months to stop using plastic bags.

SANTIAGO, Chile - With a softening of his rhetoric and nods to the progressive sectors of Chile, conservative former leader Sebastián Piñera (2010-2014) defeated the left-leaning Alejandro Guillier in the run-off vote.

With the votes tallied, Piñera came out the clear winner with 54.5 percent compared to Guillier's 45.4 percent, a margin of victory that was much larger than expected.