Stories for December 2018

Wednesday, December 5th 2018 - 08:49 UTC
Brazilian Supreme Court freezes Lula's latest appeal to be freed from prison

Brazil’s Supreme Court delayed indefinitely a decision on whether former president Lula da Silva should be freed from prison, where he is serving a 12-term for corruption. One of the five justices called for the postponement to give more time to study the case after two of his colleagues decided against a release.
Wednesday, December 5th 2018 - 08:45 UTC
Anniversary ceremony of the 1914 Battle of the Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands will commemorate the 8th December 1914 Battle of the Falkland Islands with a talk on Wednesday and a full program next Saturday. This Wednesday at the Historic Dockyard Museum, David Bailey will be giving a talk on the Battle of Colonel, and of the Falkland Islands.
Wednesday, December 5th 2018 - 08:39 UTC
Brazil's oil and gas output rose strongly in October after five flat months

Brazil's domestic crude oil output rose for the first time in five months in October as production from the subsalt region continued to grow and fewer floating production units were idled by maintenance shutdowns during the month.
Wednesday, December 5th 2018 - 08:33 UTC
German auto maker rehiring confident of Brazil's recovery

Mercedes Benz's Brazil operation will hire some 600 contractors in 2019 on year-long contracts to work on commercial vehicles, adding to a workforce of 10,000, the company said on Tuesday.
Tuesday, December 4th 2018 - 21:36 UTC
Sino-Panamanian relations off to a strong start, says Xi Jinping

Chinese President Xi Jinping Monday explained relations between his country and Panama have ”gotten off to a strong start in just a year-and-a-half” after the establishment of diplomatic ties in June 2017.
Tuesday, December 4th 2018 - 18:41 UTC
Japanese mountaineer aged 86 ready to take on Aconcagua again

Yuichiro Miura, an 86 year old mountain climber from Japan, Monday promised to ‘hang on to the last’ in a bid to climb Argentina’s Mount Aconcagua in January.
Tuesday, December 4th 2018 - 18:25 UTC
69-year-old Dutchman remains 69 years old, says court

A 69-year-old Dutchman who petitioned to be declared 20 years younger legally on the grounds that it was how he felt suffered a court setback Monday as the Arnhem judges ruled against him.
Tuesday, December 4th 2018 - 10:44 UTC
Maduro off to Moscow in search of Putin's help

After meeting in Caracas with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro took off for Moscow, where he hopes to hold some “serious talks” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in order to “strengthen and expand diplomatic relations and friendly ties between the brotherly nations.”
Tuesday, December 4th 2018 - 10:02 UTC
Erdogan voices Turkey's support to Maduro in Caracas

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday said in Caracas that his country could cover most of Venezuela's financial needs and the government of President Nicolás Maduro invited him to boost new Turkish investments in areas such as gold mining and tourism. The main item between the two countries is gold marketing.
Tuesday, December 4th 2018 - 09:04 UTC
Brazil increasing ethanol capacity because of depressed global sugar prices

Brazilian sugar companies are increasing their capacity to produce ethanol in the face of depressed global sugar prices and government policies expected to boost demand for the biofuel. A shift to ethanol in the 2018-19 season slashed Brazil’s sugar output by 9 million tons to a 12-year low and more switching to the biofuel next season could help to wipe out a global surplus weighing on sugar prices.