Stories for January 2019

Thursday, January 10th 2019 - 08:41 UTC
Differences between Maduro and the military, according to US intelligence sources

Venezuela’s defense minister told socialist President Nicolas Maduro to step down last month, and said he would offer his own resignation if he did not, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing an anonymous U.S. intelligence official.
Thursday, January 10th 2019 - 08:40 UTC
Jaguar Land Rover is cutting 5.000 jobs from its 40.000 strong UK workforce

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will announce on Thursday it is cutting up to 5,000 jobs from its 40,000 strong UK workforce. Management, marketing and administrative roles are expected to be hardest hit, but some production staff may also be affected.
Thursday, January 10th 2019 - 08:32 UTC
Brazil's soybean crop forecast cut 4.5m tons: hot spell in southern states

Brazil’s 2018/19 soybean crop forecast was cut to 116.9 million tons on Wednesday from 121.4 million tons late in November, said consultancy AgRural, blaming extreme heat and a dry spell in southern areas for the smaller projection.
Thursday, January 10th 2019 - 08:28 UTC
World Bank lowers Brazil tepid growth estimates both in 2018 and 2019

The World Bank lowered its growth estimates for Brazil both in 2018 and this year. Last June the multilateral organization bi-annual report indicated that Latin America's largest economy would advance 2.4%, but it has now reduced that to 1.2%, one of the greatest falls for any country in the report.
Thursday, January 10th 2019 - 06:18 UTC
Bolsonaro rejects migration pact: “Brazil is sovereign and decides who comes into our home”

Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro reaffirmed his rejection of a global migration pact, saying decisions about who was able to come into his country need to be “sovereign.” His comments, posted in a series of messages on his Twitter account, reinforced Bolsonaro's declaration before he took office last week that he was going to pull Brazil out of the migration compact that was endorsed by the UN General Assembly in December.
Wednesday, January 9th 2019 - 19:01 UTC
US government shutdown leaves farmers and markets with no reports on world crops

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) delayed several major U.S. and world crop reports because of the two-week-old partial government shutdown, the agency said on Friday. New release dates for the monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report and other data originally scheduled for Jan. 11 will be set once government funding is restored, USDA said.
Wednesday, January 9th 2019 - 18:05 UTC
HMS Montrose visits “the most polluted island in the world”

Type 23 frigate HMS Montrose joined the international fight against plastic littering the oceans by recording pollution on four Pacific islands. The ship's company and their Wildcat helicopter spent two days surveying remote islands – including Pitcairn, last resting place of HMS Bounty.
Wednesday, January 9th 2019 - 14:49 UTC
Brazil's Bovespa closes above 92.000 points for the first time ever

Latin American stocks in the region's main markets closed on Tuesday at new highs on the positive outlook for the ongoing US/China trade talks in Beijing. Brazil's Bovespa index ended trading above 92,000 points for the first time ever after hitting several record highs last week.
Wednesday, January 9th 2019 - 08:48 UTC
Brazilian middleman involved in Petrobras corruption arrested in the US

A Brazilian man facing allegations of bribing officials at state-run oil company Petrobras on behalf of Vitol Group, Glencore and other major oil trading firms has been arrested in the United States, authorities said Tuesday.
Wednesday, January 9th 2019 - 08:45 UTC
Domestic car sales in Brazilian domestic market in line with expectations

Car and light truck sales in Brazil went up 13.6% in 2018 from the previous year, cementing the industry’s gradual recovery from a deep recession. Brazil was one of the world’s five biggest auto markets until a recent downturn and, despite last year’s growth, numbers remain lower than at their peak in 2012.