Brazil unions and left groups staged a string of protests in a show of support for President Dilma Rousseff, although turnout was markedly lower than at massive anti-government rallies over the weekend. The protests hit back at the growing push to impeach Rousseff, who less than a year into her second term is struggling for political survival.
Brazil's unemployment rate rose for a seventh straight month in July to the highest in over five years, government data showed on Thursday. The non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate rose in July to 7.5% from 6.9% in June, statistics agency IBGE said.
Brazilian prosecutors on Thursday asked the Federal Supreme Court to authorize prosecution of the speaker of the lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha, in a massive corruption case centered on state-controlled oil giant Petrobras.
Spain’s Foreign Minister, José Manuel García-Margallo, came under flak from the opposition PSOE for his ‘frivolous and inappropriate’ comments about Gibraltar, which were dubbed ‘Francoist’ by one Socialist politician, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.
Despite the controversy generated by Wednesday picture which showed Pope Francis holding a banner calling for dialogue between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands, and later a spokesperson's dismissal of the significance of the incidence, the best definition of what really happened seems to have come from Argentina's cabinet chief Anibal Fernandez in his daily media conference, the pontiff, he said, spoke with his low tone but strong voice.
Pope Francis was sucked into Argentina's dispute with Britain over the Falkland Islands after an activist thrust a sign in his hands calling for dialogue between the two countries and President Cristina Fernandez jumped on the opportunity to rekindle the fight.
Argentina and Chile are holding their annual joint naval exercise in the Beagle channel, in the framework of the 1984 Friendship Treaty, to test their combined sea an air capabilities in the region. This includes emergency and humanitarian situations; maritime traffic control as well as search and rescue operations, operating from Puerto Williams in Chile.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and several other high-ranking German politicians touched down in Brazil's capital, Brasilia late Wednesday. The German delegation set off on its 12-hour flight immediately after a Bundestag vote approving a new bailout package for Greece.
Brazil's Senate approved a bill to roll back payroll tax breaks on Wednesday that is a key measure in President Dilma Rousseff's efforts to reduce a gaping fiscal deficit and restore confidence in her government's accounts. The Senate voted 45-27 to pass the bill which was received from the lower house with no changes.
Camargo Correa Construcoes e Participacoes, one of Brazil's largest construction companies, has admitted its role in a massive scheme to overcharge state-controlled oil company Petrobras and agreed to cooperate in the investigation as part of a leniency deal, anti-trust agency Cade said Wednesday.