Stories for April 2018

Wednesday, April 18th 2018 - 07:13 UTC
Landlocked Paraguay votes on Sunday: ruling party candidate expected to win

With Latin America’s three most populous countries voting for president this year, it’s easy to overlook the election in landlocked Paraguay (population 7 million) that takes place on April 22.
Tuesday, April 17th 2018 - 09:02 UTC
South Georgia fishing licenses controversy headed to the High Court

Under the heading of 'Betrayal' Fury as UK's bid for application to fish near the Falklands is Snubbed', Cyril Dixon from the Express reports that the head of South Georgia Fisheries company, Rupert Street will be going to the High Court in London to seek a judicial review on the decision which denied his company fishing licenses in South Georgia Islands.
Tuesday, April 17th 2018 - 08:55 UTC
Theresa May pledges £212m in support of Commonwealth girls education

Theresa May is to call for “concrete measures” to ensure girls in Commonwealth countries spend at least 12 years in education. The prime minister will pledge £212m, which Downing Street said would allow almost one million more girls to go to school.
Tuesday, April 17th 2018 - 08:48 UTC
Head of Commonwealth succession to be decided next Friday: UK supports Prince Charles

A decision on whether the Prince of Wales should succeed his mother as head of the Commonwealth is expected later this week, Downing Street says. Britain backs Queen Elizabeth's son and heir, Prince Charles, to succeed her as head of the Commonwealth, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said, The Guardian reported.
Tuesday, April 17th 2018 - 08:36 UTC
First opening of the QE2 floating hotel in Dubai

The UAE’s new floating hotel, Queen Elizabeth 2, will be opening its doors to the public soon, and ahead of the big day, some images have emerged of what the refurbished cruise ship will look like inside. The once world-renowned ocean liner that sailed the oceans for years, also known as QE2, has just gone through 2.7 million man-hours of transformation and is now permanently docked at Mina Rashid in Dubai.
Tuesday, April 17th 2018 - 08:31 UTC
Homeless activists occupy seaside apartment at the heart of Lula da Silva's imprisonment

A group of homelessness activists briefly occupied on Monday the seaside apartment at the heart of the corruption case that saw ex-president Lula da Silva imprisoned earlier this month. About 30 members of the Homeless Workers' Movement and other leftist activists got into the triplex apartment in Guaruja, near Sao Paulo, hanging placards from the balcony in support of Lula.
Tuesday, April 17th 2018 - 08:26 UTC
Death of Brazilian black woman activist and councillor remains unsolved

Shadowy criminal gangs operating in Rio de Janeiro are the chief suspects in last month's murder of Marielle Franco, a prominent black rights activist and city councilor, a government minister said on Monday.
Tuesday, April 17th 2018 - 08:14 UTC
Argentina's inflation hard to beat: “inflation has to fall a lot in May”

Argentina’s central bank would raise interest rates if inflation does not fall “a lot” beginning in May to a level consistent with its 2018 target for a 15% rise in consumer prices, central bank Governor Federico Sturzenegger said on Monday.
Tuesday, April 17th 2018 - 08:01 UTC
UK/Russia relations “worse than during the Cold War” because of Russiaphobia

Diplomatic tensions between the UK and Russia deepened amid claims that Moscow was blocking investigators from reaching the site of a chemical weapons attack in Syria. The UK said it was “essential” the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was granted “unfettered access” to Douma.
Tuesday, April 17th 2018 - 07:54 UTC
Pound in strong sustained run against the US dollar

The pound has continued its recent strong run against the dollar pushing firmly above US$ 1.43. It is the seventh session in a row that the pound has made gains against the US currency. The strong run means that, among the G10 group of rich nations, the UK has the best-performing currency this year.