Politics

Wednesday, August 26th 2015 - 05:47 UTC
Blatter says he is 'clean' and denies systematic bribery in FIFA

With FIFA reeling from the most damaging corruption crisis in its 111-year history, (14 FIFA officials and marketing executives were indicted by US justice authorities in May over a $150 million bribery scandal), Sepp Blatter denied that FIFA was corrupt to the core.
Tuesday, August 25th 2015 - 20:31 UTC
Falklands' air defenses bolstered with Saab-built Giraffe AMB radars

Britain has ordered additional Saab-built Giraffe AMB radars to bolster ground-based air defenses on the Falkland Islands against a possible future threat from Argentina, reports Defense News. The Swedish company announced on 24 August that it had received an order valued at 610 Swedish krona million ($74 million dollars) from the UK Ministry of Defense for the supply of new radars and the upgrade of existing systems.
Tuesday, August 25th 2015 - 20:13 UTC
Rousseff planning to cut 10 of 39 ministries as commitment to austerity

Brazil's government announced on Monday it will slash the number of ministries and reduce its spending, in an effort to show commitment to austerity that could be politically costly for President Dilma Rousseff.
Tuesday, August 25th 2015 - 15:01 UTC
Over 700 Cuban doctors working in Venezuela have fled across to Colombia

Deteriorating conditions in Venezuela are causing increasing numbers of Cuban medical personnel working there to immigrate to the United States under a special US program launched in 2006 that expedites their applications.
Tuesday, August 25th 2015 - 14:48 UTC
Rousseff ever more lame: VP Temer to drop as political coordinator

Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer has decided to drop his role as day-to-day political coordinator in Congress for President Dilma Rousseff but is not leaving her government, two sources in the administration said on Monday.
Tuesday, August 25th 2015 - 14:43 UTC
Brazil's electoral authority investigating funding of Rousseff's presidential campaign

The vice-president of Brazil’s TSE electoral authority has asked for an investigation of President Dilma Rousseff’s 2014 re-election campaign, citing evidence that it may have been financed with money from a corruption scheme at state-run oil firm Petrobras.
Monday, August 24th 2015 - 11:05 UTC
UK reopens embassy in Teheran and Iran in London; initially at chargé d'affairs level

The British embassy in Iran has reopened, nearly four years after it was closed. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond attended a ceremony on Sunday in Teheran with Iranian diplomats to mark the reopening while Iran has also reopened its embassy in London.
Monday, August 24th 2015 - 10:56 UTC
Guatemala president will not quit and rejects corruption allegations

Guatemalan President Otto Perez said he will not resign and rejected allegations that he was one of the ringleaders of a corruption scandal shaking the country.
Monday, August 24th 2015 - 10:35 UTC
Franco-Brazilian journalist beaten-up in Ecuador leaves the country but promises to return

Detained, beaten-up and threatened with deportation: Franco-Brazilian journalist Manuela Picq experienced the rough edges of Ecuador's political system after attending an anti-government rally this month backed by union bosses and indigenous leaders.
Monday, August 24th 2015 - 10:16 UTC
HMS Lancaster, RFA Gold Rover and South African units in naval exercise

Three South African Navy ships have joined two British Royal Navy vessels and welcomed them to Simon’s Town. The frigate HMS Lancaster and Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker, Gold Rover, on Atlantic Patrol Tasking have both spent 19 days travelling 4,000 miles across the cold South Atlantic, calling at the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.