International

• Monday, December 31st 2018 - 12:23 UTC

  Venezuela: Maduro regime will be a “facto government” since 2019

  

  Academics of the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) debated between December 20 and 26 on the constitutional end of Nicolás Maduro's office term between 2014-2019 and propose three clear lines against the question of the oath of office on the 10th of January. The new period (2019-2025) won't be recognized by the International Community.

• Monday, December 31st 2018 - 00:51 UTC

  South America does not help self-employed individuals thrive, study shows

  

  Uruguay and Argentina finished last and next respectively in a study carried out by international consultants Expert Market on the difficulties faced by self-employed individuals in 57 countries, it was reported Saturday.

• Saturday, December 29th 2018 - 21:16 UTC

  Hemp becomes federally legal in US; estimates of a US$ 20bn industry by 2022

  

  After years of prohibition, industrial hemp is now federally legal in the United States. President Trump signed off on the 2018 Farm Bill which redefines hemp as an agricultural commodity, and more importantly, removes it from the Controlled Substances Act.

• Saturday, December 29th 2018 - 10:30 UTC

  Bolsonaro presents Netanyahu with Brazil's highest decoration for visitors

  

  Brazil's President-elect Jair Bolsonaro and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Friday in Rio de Janeiro and sealed an alliance between the two countries, although moving the embasy to Jerusalem was reportedly not on the table. Bolsonaro presented Netanyahu with the highest national decoration for visitors in Brazil, granted in the past to former US President Dwight Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth.

• Saturday, December 29th 2018 - 08:13 UTC

  India planning to become a heavy weight in the global squid market

  

  The squid caught in the deep waters of the Arabian Sea may soon become an exported product from India due to the fact that the country's fishing authorities have decided to grant permission for this cephalopod jigging.

• Saturday, December 29th 2018 - 08:06 UTC

  Rightwing coalition to rule Socialist stronghold Andalusia: first time in 36 years

  

  An alliance between the right-wing Partido Popular, Ciudadanos and Vox resulted in Ciudadanos’ deputy Marta Bosquet being voted in as Speaker of the Andalusia Parliament. She received 59 votes from the three parties, which put her ahead of left-wing alliance Adelante Andalucía’s Inmaculada Nieto who held 50 votes.

• Saturday, December 29th 2018 - 07:49 UTC

  Identification Plan of Argentine remains in the Falklands to be extended

  

  Argentina and the United Kingdom are to discuss the extension of the current Humanitarian Project Plan to identify Argentine combatant remains buried in the Falkland Islands, to include possible errors in the names of some graves, and other burial sites such as Pebbles island, according to a report from Martin Dinatale published in the news agency Infobae.

• Saturday, December 29th 2018 - 07:36 UTC

  HMS Montrose en route to Bahrain calls at Easter Island

  

  The crew of HMS Montrose have spent the end of Christmas week on the remote Pacific Easter Island – famous for its huge stone statues. It’s thought to be the first time this century a British warship has visited the Chilean territory, which is about the size of Sheffield – but home to fewer than 8,000 people.

• Friday, December 28th 2018 - 09:17 UTC

  Jerusalem controversy: Arab ministerial delegation plans to visit Bolsonaro in January

  

  An Arab ministerial delegation plans to travel to Brazil in January to convince the incoming Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, not to relocate his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an official Palestinian source said on Thursday. Bolsonaro announced in November that he intends to relocate the Brazilian Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

• Friday, December 28th 2018 - 09:12 UTC

  Netanyahu will visit president elect Bolsonaro this Friday in Rio

  

  Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has left on a historic six-day trip to Brazil, the first ever visit the largest Latin American country made by a sitting premier of the Jewish state. Besides boosting diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries, Netanyahu is scheduled to hold a one-to-one meeting with president-elect Jair Bolsonaro this Friday in Rio de Janeiro.