Stories for August 17th 2018

Friday, August 17th 2018 - 12:33 UTC
Google employees protest plans for a “censored search engine” in China

Hundreds of Google employees have written to the company to protest against plans to launch a “censored search engine” in China. They said the project raised “urgent moral and ethical questions” and urged the firm to be more transparent.
Friday, August 17th 2018 - 11:01 UTC
Argentina offering reward for the recovery of assets from corruption scheme

Argentina is offering a reward for information leading to the recovery of money from a case in which former President Cristina Fernandez is accused of leading a corruption scheme involving officials and business leaders.
Friday, August 17th 2018 - 10:26 UTC
US/China announcement of trade talks come as a relief to world markets

The dollar stepped back from 13-1/2-month highs against other major currencies on Friday as talks next week between China and the United States offered some hope that the world’s two largest economies will find a way to head off a full-blown trade war.
Friday, August 17th 2018 - 10:10 UTC
Eliminating glyphosate would be a “disaster” for Brazilian agriculture

A potential ban on the popular herbicide glyphosate in Brazil over concerns it may cause cancer in humans would be a “disaster” for the country’s agricultural industry, Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said on Thursday.
Friday, August 17th 2018 - 09:44 UTC
Pope Francis sides with victims of 300 “predators” and wants “to root out this tragic horror”

Pope Francis is on the side of victims of more than 300 “predator” priests in the US accused of abusing children in one state, the Vatican says. In a statement, it said the Church wanted to listen to the victims to “root out this tragic horror”.
Friday, August 17th 2018 - 09:25 UTC
Tribal chief of the “Guardians of the Amazon” murdered by illegal loggers in Brazil

An indigenous leader has been found murdered in Brazil, exposing the growing threat to tribes fighting illegal logging in the Amazon, campaigners and authorities said. Jorginho Guajajara was found dead in the northern state of Maranhao with his neck broken, rights group Survival International said. Police in Maranhao confirmed on Thursday they were investigating the case.
Friday, August 17th 2018 - 08:58 UTC
Argentina struggling to tame markets and inflation; talks for a currency swap with China

Argentina’s central bank said on Thursday it hiked reserve requirements by 3 percentage points for the country’s largest banks, as it tries to keep its plan for reducing short-term debt from adding to already high inflation.
Friday, August 17th 2018 - 08:43 UTC
Lula's ban to run for president expected to be confirmed before August 31

Brazil’s top electoral court must decide whether the country’s most popular politician can run in upcoming elections despite being jailed for corruption. The court is expected to declare former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ineligible in the coming weeks, ahead of the Oct. 7 vote, but that may not stop his Workers Party (PT) winning anyway.
Friday, August 17th 2018 - 08:39 UTC
Temer endorsing two candidates for October's presidential election

Brazilian President Michel Temer is endorsing another party’s candidate as well as his own in October’s presidential election. On the day the campaign took off, Temer said in an interview published on Thursday by the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper that he sees former Sao Paulo Gov. Geraldo Alckmin of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party as a candidate who would carry on with his work.
Friday, August 17th 2018 - 08:16 UTC
“The press is not the enemy of the people”, says unanimous resolution by the Republican-led US Senate

The Republican-led Senate passed a resolution affirming its commitment to protecting freedom of speech and condemned recent attacks on journalists and members of the media. In a resolution brought forth by Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, lawmakers affirmed “that the press is not the enemy of the people,” which passed by unanimous consent.