Brazilian industry contracted in November, breaking all negative estimates as the country’s worst recession in decades deepened. Industrial production declined 2.4% from October in seasonally adjusted terms and 12.4% from November 2014, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, or IBGE, said.
Brazil's inflation rate hit a 13-year high in 2015, in what analysts called the result of years of economic mismanagement, worsened by a political crisis in Latin America's biggest economy. Annual inflation reached 10.67% in 2015, the government said Friday, the highest rate since 2002 and more than double the government's 4.5% target.
Almost three weeks on from Spain’s election, which left a fragmented Parliament, Socialist Party leader Pedro Sánchez ruled out a coalition with the conservative People’s Party (PP) on Thursday and said he was seeking “a grand alliance of progressive forces” to lead the country.
United States jobs growth remained solid in December as the economy added 292,000 jobs, beating expectations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics data also showed the jobless rate held at its seven-and-a-half year low of 5%.
Suspended UEFA chief Michel Platini has withdrawn from the FIFA presidential race as he fights to clear his name following an eight-year ban. Platini was banned by FIFA's ethics judge in December over a “disloyal” $2 million payment he received from Sepp Blatter in 2011. It virtually ended his dreams of succeeding Blatter at the helm of FIFA in the Feb. 26 election.
Mexican authorities recaptured drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in a bloody raid on Friday. “Mission Accomplished,” President Enrique Peña Nieto announced via Twitter. “We have him” in reference to the recapture of one of the world's most notorious and slippery criminals.