Stories for January 2018

Wednesday, January 17th 2018 - 10:44 UTC
Oscar Pérez case repercussions: the operation was “State terrorism”

After a day of speculation and uncertainty in Venezuela, the interior minister, Néstor Reverol confirmed the death of Oscar Pérez, who, according to the minister, “attacked our officials” when the authorities were preparing to negotiate the surrender of the rebels, which the same Oscar Perez denied minutes before dying in several videos published on his social networks. The minister also reported that the Venezuelan opposition provided information for the location of the former insurgent police and part of the La Resistencia group at the dialogue table in the Dominican Republic.
Wednesday, January 17th 2018 - 10:18 UTC
Pope Francis held a private meeting with victims of sex abuse by priests

Pope Francis publicly expressed “pain and shame” on Tuesday over the rape and molestation of children by priests in Chile and later listened, prayed and cried at a private meeting with victims. Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said the meeting took place in the Vatican embassy in Santiago.
Wednesday, January 17th 2018 - 10:14 UTC
Conservatives urge “unity of purpose” ahead of EU Withdrawal Bill third reading

The Conservatives have urged MPs to show a “unity of purpose” and back their Brexit legislation in a key vote. The EU (Withdrawal) Bill gets its third reading in the House of Commons later before heading to the Lords.
Wednesday, January 17th 2018 - 10:12 UTC
Wales will take steps to protect its interests, unless changes are made to EU Withdrawal bill

First Minister Carwyn Jones has said he will take steps to protect Welsh powers after Brexit if UK ministers do not change their EU withdrawal bill. He claimed the way Theresa May planned to bring powers back from Brussels was a “fundamental assault” on devolution.
Wednesday, January 17th 2018 - 09:32 UTC
Hard times in Cuba: electricity and fuel cuts, slashed imports and payments to suppliers delayed

Cuba has not provided a detailed breakdown of key economic activity in its annual statistical abstract for the first time this century, leaving would-be investors more in the dark than usual about the cenrtralized-run economy.
Wednesday, January 17th 2018 - 09:29 UTC
Brazilian stocks at an all time high, as optimism grows recession is over

Brazilian stocks on Tuesday edged up to an all-time high as optimism over the nation's economic prospects kept an early-year rally alive. The benchmark Bovespa stock index rose 0.3% to 79,951, nearing the 80,000 milestone for the first-time ever.
Wednesday, January 17th 2018 - 09:25 UTC
Europe tells UK that “our hearts are still open”, and hopes London will listen

Europe’s top two bureaucrats believe the UK could still yet change its mind on Brexit. Donald Tusk, the European Council president, said “our hearts are still open” to “our British friends” to remain in the bloc. And quoting the UK Brexit secretary, he added: “Wasn’t it David Davis himself who said ‘if a democracy cannot change its mind, it ceases to be a democracy’? We here on the continent haven’t had a change of heart – our hearts are still open to you.”
Wednesday, January 17th 2018 - 09:23 UTC
Minus 67 Celsisus in Russia'a Yakuta region, 5.300 kilometers east of Moscow

Even thermometers can't keep up with the plunging temperatures in Russia's remote Yakutia region, which hit minus 67 degrees Celsius (minus 88.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas on Tuesday. In Yakutia, a region of 1 million people about 5,300 kilometers east of Moscow, students routinely go to school even in minus 40 degrees. But school was canceled on Tuesday throughout the region and police ordered parents to keep their children inside.
Wednesday, January 17th 2018 - 09:12 UTC
European Parliament bans electric pulse fishing; rejection from Dutch fishermen

The European Parliament called on Tuesday for a ban on electric pulse fishing in the European Union, defying Brussels which wants the experimental practice in the North Sea done on a larger scale. The parliament, the EU's only directly elected body, will now try to strike a compromise with the European Commission, the bloc's executive, and the European Council, which groups the 28 member states.
Wednesday, January 17th 2018 - 09:05 UTC
Trump in excellent health and with normal score on a cognitive exam

President Donald Trump requested that his first formal medical exam include a cognitive test and “did exceedingly well,” receiving a score of 30 out of 30, the top White House doctor announced on Tuesday afternoon.