Stories for March 20th 2025

Thursday, March 20th 2025 - 20:03 UTC
Amazon railroad project faces ballooning costs and environmental concerns

New data provided by researchers from the University of São Paulo, the Federal University of Minas Gerais, and environmental groups like the Climate Observatory showed that the Ferrogrão railroad, a 933-kilometer project linking Mato Grosso’s grain-producing region to Atlantic ports, could cause significantly greater environmental damage than previously estimated. The study criticizes the government’s feasibility analysis, conducted under former President Jair Bolsonaro, for underestimating deforestation risks and cumulative impacts, especially in the Amazon rainforest and indigenous areas.
Thursday, March 20th 2025 - 13:37 UTC
Bolivia's oil supply from bad to worse

A lorry carrying crude oil from Chile to Bolivia for refining overturned in Lauca National Park, Arica, Chile, spilling approximately 10,000 liters of oil, thus causing significant environmental contamination. Firefighters initially contained the spill, but damage to flora and fauna is still being assessed by Chile's National Forestry Corporation (Conaf).
Thursday, March 20th 2025 - 11:26 UTC
Brazil: Haddad says Selic adjustment stemmed from Campos Neto era

After Brazil Central Bank's (BCB) Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) raised Wednesday the benchmark Selic interest rate from 13.25% to 14.25% annually, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad warned that such a move had been planned since December under former BCB President Roberto Campos Neto, who had been appointed during the Jair Bolsonaro years.
Thursday, March 20th 2025 - 10:51 UTC
Argentina's Lower House greenlights Milei's IMF emergency decree

Argentina's Lower House Wednesday gave its nod to President Javier Milei's Emergency Decree (DNU) clearing the way for further borrowing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reinforce Central Bank reserves and manage debt by 129 votes in favor, 108 against, and 6 abstentions with endorsements from the ruling La Libertad Avanza (LLA) as well as other parties, such as PRO, UCR, Coalición Cívica, Innovación Federal, Producción y Trabajo, and a group of Encuentro Federal lawmakers. Opposition came primarily from the Peronist Unión por la Patria (UxP), leftwing groups, and other minor factions.
Thursday, March 20th 2025 - 10:23 UTC
Eduardo Bolsonaro to seek political asylum in the US

Brazilian Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, a son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, announced he would be taking a leave from Parliament and remaining in the United States where he intends to seek political asylum at the suggestion of his legal team, who advised him against returning to the country as his freedom could be endangered by whatever Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre De Moraes might decide. He traveled to the US on Feb. 27, 2025, initially for meetings and vacation.
Thursday, March 20th 2025 - 09:48 UTC
Chilean Lower House Speaker resigns her post

Chilean Congresswoman Karol Cariola, who is on maternity leave, turned in her resignation as Speaker of the Lower House after private chats in which she criticized President Gabriel Boric Font were leaked. Cariola is also under investigation for alleged influence peddling after she asked former Santiago Mayor and fellow Communist Irací Hassler to help a Chinese businessman “friend,” as other private conversations would have proven. She was also quoted as saying that Boric was “a shitty human being” and the current government, “the worst thing that has happened to us.”
Thursday, March 20th 2025 - 06:07 UTC
Brazilian Central Bank raises interest rate to its highest in nine years, 14.25%

The Brazilian Central Bank Copom (Monetary Policy Committee) raised the benchmark interest rate (Selic) by one full percentage point on Wednesday, from 13.25% to 14.25%, the highest since 2016, the level reached during the political crisis that ousted then president of Dilma Rousseff’s (PT) government.
Thursday, March 20th 2025 - 05:58 UTC
Germany voted to rearm, but can the 'rule of law' be kept alive?

By Gwynne Dyer - After the Second World War, the “rule of law” prevented borders from changing, explains Gwynne Dyer, but it's at risk due to Trump. On March 18, there was a vote in the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament that may have changed the course of history. When the vote came out ‘Yes’, you could feel the tectonic plates shift. Germany has voted to rearm.
Thursday, March 20th 2025 - 05:43 UTC
Tributes pour for Battle of Britain’s “Last of the Few”, who died at age 105 in Dublin

The Prince and Princess of Wales, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are among the many people who have taken to social media to pay their respects to Group Captain John “Paddy” Hemingway, the last surviving pilot of the Battle of Britain. The RAF veteran, who also took part in the Battle of France and in Italy, died at the age of 105.
Thursday, March 20th 2025 - 05:25 UTC
Israel's market opens up to Paraguayan sheep meat

Paraguay's National Animal Health and Quality Service (Senacsa) announced Wednesday the opening of Israel's market to sheep meat exports from the South American country, following approval of a slaughterhouse by Israel's Veterinary and Animal Health Service (IVSAH). This milestone is expected to boost sheep production and create economic opportunities, building on last year's record animal product exports to Israel worth US$ 147.6 million.