Forty migrants, including two children, have been rescued from boats in five separate incidents on Christmas Day in the English Channel. Lifeboats and a coastguard helicopter intercepted a boat carrying 12 people and a child off the coast of Deal, Kent, at about 04:30 GMT. And a girl was one of eight who arrived in Folkestone at about 02:40 GMT.
The Royal Bank of Scotland has applied for a German banking license to help it retain clients in the European Union in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The move applies to all its subsidiaries, but would only affect NatWest, which trades across the bloc.
Petrobras has unveiled plans to invest US$ 84.1bn in deepwater exploration and production projects in Brazil, as well as raise $27bn through asset sales and partnerships by 2023. Around US$ 69bn of the planned investment will be channelled into the development of production in the pre-salt areas. Other key focus areas of investment include refining, transportation, trading, and natural gas and petrochemicals.
Brazil's president-elect Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday said he wants an agreement with Israel to build desalination plants in the parched north where droughts are frequent. In a message on Twitter, Bolsonaro, who is to take office on Jan. 1, said his appointed Science and Technology Minister Marcos Pontes will travel to Tel Aviv in January to meet with his Israeli counterpart over the matter.
A total 340 people have been reported Tuesday to be incarcerated in Nicaragua for their involvement in anti-givernment actions, according to the National Prison System, as the administration of President Daniel Ortega has been going through a socio-political crisis since April that has left hundreds dead and thousands either under arrest or injured. Human rights NGOs estimate the number of detainees to be almost twice as many.
Japan will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission in 2019 to pave the way for the resumption of commercial whaling for the first time in about three decades, the government said on Wednesday, a decision likely to draw international condemnation.
The Pope has used his annual Christmas message to appeal for peace in conflict zones including Yemen and Syria. The two countries have both been ravaged by civil war for years, pushing their people into humanitarian crises. Francis also called for political reconciliation in Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Venezuelan human rights activists and opposition party Voluntad Popular (VP) Monday opened an exhibition about the country's political prisoners, their alleged tortures and the plights hundreds of victims of the Nicolás Naduri regime have gone through.
Argentina, Brazil and India lead the prospects of an economic recovery, according to Michael Hasenstab of Templeton Global Bond Fund Management.
The Mexican House of Deputies Monday gave its final green light to the spending law bill - that is one week before the legal deadline - with funds relocated from autonomous bodies to sensitive areas such as agriculture, environment and public universities, it was announced.