Stories for August 2015

Friday, August 28th 2015 - 05:32 UTC
Lula da Silva seems to have lost his invincible electoral allure, opinion polls show

Former Brazilian president Lula da Silva, if he decided to run again in 2018 as his Workers Party insists, would lose the presidential contest against any of three potential candidates from the leading opposition party, PSDB, (Brazilian Social Democracy) according to a public opinion poll released this week.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 05:23 UTC
Scioli-Macri the most probable run-off in Argentina's presidential race

The scenario of a runoff in Argentina's coming presidential election next October 'remains' strong, according to public opinion analyst Jorge Giacobbe. The two candidates who are expected to dispute a second round in November are the incumbent Daniel Scioli and conservative Mauricio Macri.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 05:04 UTC
Barcelona targets home rental websites to crack on 'uncontrolled' tourism

Barcelona's new mayor is picking a fight with home rental websites as she tries to crack down on uncontrolled tourism that she fears could drive out poor residents and spoil the Catalan capital's charm. Ada Colau is threatening to fine firms like Airbnb and Booking.com if they market apartments from tourists without a number showing that they are on the Catalan tourism register.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 04:53 UTC
Spain confident its Gibraltar tough policy is 'bearing fruit' and will continue

The Spanish Government’s measures toward Gibraltar are ‘bearing fruit, Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel García-Margallo said in a weekend interview in which he vowed to maintain pressure on the Rock. Although the minister’s tough language on Gibraltar was nothing new, it was the second time within the space of a week that he had spoken out on the Rock.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 04:41 UTC
Dilma has an extra 12 days to show 'non-doctored' government accounts

Brazil's highest accounting court gave another 15 days for President Dilma Rousseff to respond to accusations she doctored the government accounts last year to hide the deterioration of the country's finances.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 04:35 UTC
Brazil unemployment climbs to 8.3% in 2Q; auto industry starting layoffs

Brazil’s unemployment rate rose to 8.3% in the second quarter, according to a release from the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics, IBGE. The ranks of the jobless expanded to 8.4 million people during the April-June period.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 04:28 UTC
Wall Street rebounds 4%, but European markets still fearful of China

Shares on Wall Street finished with their biggest rise in four years ending another rocky day of trading on global markets. The mood was lifted by comments from US Federal Reserve official William Dudley that a rate rise in September seemed “less compelling”.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 04:21 UTC
Chinese shares timidly return to positive territory: Shanghai Composite up 2.3%

Chinese shares have returned to positive territory after massive losses earlier in the week rocket markets around the globe. The Shanghai Composite was up by 2.3% at 2,991.91 points. The turnaround, though, does little to make up double digit percentage losses made so far this week.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 02:36 UTC
Guatemala Supreme Court approves impeachment of president Otto Perez

The Guatemalan Supreme Court approved a request by the country’s attorney general to impeach President Otto Perez over his suspected involvement in a racket to siphon customs revenue from the government, and passed the matter to Congress for approval.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 02:22 UTC
Ex Guatemala vice-president accused of fraud denied bail and sent to an ordinary jail

A Guatemalan judge ruled Wednesday that former vice president Roxana Baldetti must remain in jail pending trial on charges of defrauding the customs service of millions of dollars. Judge Miguel Angel Galvez said he considered it “prudent” to deny bail to Baldetti, whom prosecutors and a special UN investigative commission accuses her of masterminding a customs bribery ring along with President Otto Perez.