Stories for March 21st 2019

Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 14:41 UTC
Brazil: Former President Michel Temer is arrested

Former Brazilian President Michel Temer was arrested on Thursday on corruption charges, a dramatic development in a sprawling corruption probe that has roiled Brazil has showed no sign of slowing.
Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 10:39 UTC
EU prepared to grant UK a Brexit delay, if Parliament votes in favor of Mrs. May deal

The European Union could grant Britain’s request for a short Brexit delay if Parliament votes next week in favour of a stalled departure deal, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday.
Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 10:35 UTC
Nicaragua agreement: government to release opposition prisoners and sanctions on the country to be lifted

Nicaragua's government agreed on Wednesday to release opposition prisoners within 90 days in order to restart stalled peace talks aimed at ending an 11-month political crisis, a dialogue mediator said.
Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 10:30 UTC
New Zealand bans military style semi automatic and assault rifles

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday that military style semi-automatics and assault rifles will be banned under stronger new gun laws following the killing of 50 people in the country's worst mass shooting.
Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 10:07 UTC
Bolivian elections on October 20, not to coincide with Argentina and Uruguay

General elections in Bolivia will now be held on Sunday, October 20, a week earlier than first planned, in order not to clash with elections in Argentina and Uruguay scheduled for October 27. Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) confirmed the decision this week.
Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 10:02 UTC
EU fines Google €1.49 billion for blocking rival online search advertisers

Google was fined €1.49 billion ($1.7 billion) on Wednesday for blocking rival online search advertisers, in the third large European Union antitrust penalty for the Alphabet business in two only years.
Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 09:55 UTC
Mexico and Brazil agree on a free trade for light vehicles

Mexico’s government said it had reached an agreement with Brazil on the free trade of light vehicles, subject to a 40% regional content requirement, paving the way for more open commerce between Latin America’s two biggest economies.
Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 09:52 UTC
GM announces US$ 2.5bn investment in Brazilian car industry

General Motors Co said it would invest US$ 2.7 billion in two Brazilian factories over the next five years, sparing them from a shakeup of the automaker’s operations, a decision hailed by the governor of Brazil’s largest state.
Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 09:45 UTC
Citigroup plans to sell US$ 1.6bn of Venezuelan gold held on collateral

Citigroup Inc plans to sell several tons of gold placed as collateral by Venezuela’s central bank on a US$ 1.6 billion loan after the deadline for repurchasing them expired this month, sources said Reuters, a setback for President Nicolas Maduro’s efforts to hold onto the country’s fast-shrinking reserves.
Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 09:40 UTC
Fed confirms it does not expect to raise interest rates in 2019

The US Federal Reserve does not expect to raise interest rates for the rest of 2019 amid slower economic growth. After a two-day meeting, monetary policymakers voted unanimously to keep the US interest rate range between 2.25%-2.5%.