Stories for April 2019

Saturday, April 6th 2019 - 09:58 UTC
Heavy rains with flash floods in northeast Brazil and in Paraguay

Civil defense officials have reported that heavy rains in northeastern Brazil have killed at least three people and displaced 3,600, while apparently unrelated flooding far to the south in Paraguay has forced some 20,000 people from their homes.
Saturday, April 6th 2019 - 09:56 UTC
Argentina combats violence in football: 128 hooligans banned from stadiums during four years

More than 100 members of Boca Junior's 'barra bravas' – among them hooligan leaders Rafael Di Zeo and Mauro Martín – will not be able to enter Argentine football stadiums for the next four years, according to a resolution posted in the Argentine Official Gazette on Thursday.
Saturday, April 6th 2019 - 09:55 UTC
Venezuelans protestors and government supporters take to the streets nationwide on Saturday

Venezuelans are expected to take to the streets nationwide on Saturday, less than a week after power outages left many without basic services and water. US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president in late January, called on his supporters to gather in the capital Caracas and different areas around the country to protest against President Nicolas Maduro and the “tragic” conditions plaguing the country.
Saturday, April 6th 2019 - 09:52 UTC
Hiring in services increases helping to keep US unemployment at a record low 3.8%

US job creation came back to life in March, with a hiring surge in healthcare, bars and restaurants, while unemployment held steady and worker wages continued to climb, government data showed Friday.
Saturday, April 6th 2019 - 09:49 UTC
Trump's carrots stick approach to Mexico and the border illegal crossing dispute

President Donald Trump flew on Friday to visit newly built fencing on the Mexican border, even as he retreated from a threat to shut the frontier over what he says is an out-of-control influx of migrants and drugs.
Saturday, April 6th 2019 - 09:46 UTC
US and China “making progress” towards ending the trade war

President Donald Trump on Friday said talks with Beijing were making progress toward ending the trade war between the world's two top economies, but he again stopped short of predicting success.
Saturday, April 6th 2019 - 09:43 UTC
Trump again puts pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates

United States president Donald Trump said on Friday the US Federal Reserve should lower interest rates and take other unconventional measures to ease pressure on an economy that he said they slowed down. “I think they should drop rates,” Trump told reporters. “I think they really slowed us down. There's no inflation.”
Saturday, April 6th 2019 - 09:39 UTC
Beijing poses a threat, says Pompeo after arrest of Chinese woman trying to enter Trump's Florida resort

The arrest of a Chinese woman who allegedly brought malicious software to US President Donald Trump's Florida resort shows that Beijing poses a threat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday.
Saturday, April 6th 2019 - 09:37 UTC
Ex Serbian spies jailed for the murder of an outspoken journalist in 1999

Four former Serbian spies have been jailed for the murder of journalist Slavko Curuvija in 1999. A Belgrade court jailed two of the defendants for 30 years each, while two others received 20-year sentences. Curuvija, an outspoken critic of the late Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, was gunned down outside his apartment.
Saturday, April 6th 2019 - 09:33 UTC
IMF releases US$10.8 billion to Argentina and insists on fiscal prudence

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed on Friday the third review of Argentina’s economic performance under the 36-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) that was approved on June 20, 2018. The completion of the review allows the authorities to draw the equivalent of SDR 7.8 billion (about US$10.8 billion), bringing total purchases since June 2018 to SDR 28.01371 billion (about US$38.9 billion).