Stories for May 2016

Tuesday, May 10th 2016 - 08:55 UTC
Macri strikes deal with business leaders to suspend layoffs but Congress criticizes

Argentine President Mauricio Macri has struck a temporary deal with local businessmen and some unions to suspend layoffs for 90 days. Macri's announcement of the deal on Monday comes as job cuts and high inflation rate are worrying many Argentines and Congress is in the process of approving an anti-layoffs bill that doubles severance pay and bans layoffs without cause for 180 days.
Tuesday, May 10th 2016 - 08:42 UTC
Keiko with slight lead over Kuczynski ahead of Peruvian presidential runoff

Peruvian presidential contender Keiko Fujimori has a slight lead over rival Pedro Pablo Kuczynski ahead of the June 5 run-off election, according to a poll published on Sunday. The two pro-business candidates emerged from a first round election on April 10.
Tuesday, May 10th 2016 - 06:56 UTC
Brazil's political adrift situation shocks markets but is a plum day for speculators

Brazilian markets weakened on Monday after the acting lower house speaker in Brazil's Congress annulled an impeachment vote, though losses were pared as investors bet the move would delay rather than prevent leftist President Dilma Rousseff's removal from office.
Tuesday, May 10th 2016 - 06:38 UTC
Brazil's Byzantine politics: clash between senior lawmakers extends power vacuum

Brazil's Senate forged ahead with impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff on Monday, rejecting a surprise decision by the acting speaker of the lower house, who tried to annul a key vote just days before the president could be suspended from office.
Tuesday, May 10th 2016 - 06:18 UTC
Leaving the EU would be disastrous for the Falklands, Gibraltar and Ulster

By William Hague - Among the most inspiring experiences of my time in politics was meeting people who, in spite of great pressure to the contrary, chose to be British.
Tuesday, May 10th 2016 - 06:03 UTC
Lawmakers planning to remove House acting speaker who annulled Rousseff's impeachment process

Waldir Maranaho's acting speaker post in Brazil's Lower House and his decision to annul the April 17 impeachment procedure vote against Dilma Rousseff, could be on the fire line, and even the countdown, following on fourteen parties decision to impede him from acting, according to Veja, Brazil's leading magazine.
Monday, May 9th 2016 - 11:29 UTC
Fitch downgrades Brazil's sovereign debt into junk territory, as political crisis deepens

Fitch Ratings downgraded Brazil's sovereign debt further into junk territory on Thursday, citing a deeper-than-expected economic contraction and changing fiscal targets that have undermined credibility. The agency downgraded Brazil to BB from BB+ with a negative outlook a week before a Senate vote that is expected to lead to the suspension of unpopular leftist President Dilma Rousseff.
Monday, May 9th 2016 - 11:20 UTC
JBS denies making illegal payments for Rousseff's campaign in 2014

JBS SA, the world's largest beef producer, denied a Saturday newspaper report that it had made illegal payments for President Dilma Rousseff's 2014 reelection campaign. O Globo newspaper, citing leaked testimony given to federal investigators by Monica Moura, the wife of Rousseff's campaign chief Joao Santana, earlier reported that JBS paid the Rousseff campaign's debt to Focal, a Sao Paulo-based visual communications firm.
Monday, May 9th 2016 - 11:13 UTC
Brazilian deputy asks the Supreme Court to block Rousseff's impeachment

The deputy from the ruling Workers’ Party has appealed to Brazil’s Supreme Court in an effort to block the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff ahead of Wednesday’s Senate vote.
Monday, May 9th 2016 - 11:04 UTC
Former first lady of East Germany, nicknamed the Purple Witch, dies in Chile

A small funeral was held in Chile Saturday for Margot Honecker, the widow of former East German leader Erich Honecker. A steely politician in her own right, the 89-year-old died of cancer in the capital Santiago on Friday.