
Officials in Venezuela took the first step on Saturday toward expelling top diplomats from Brazil and Canada who have been accused of meddling in the country’s politics. National constituent assembly president Delcy Rodriguez declared both Brazil’s ambassador and Canada’s charge d’affaires as persona non grata, a move which does away with their diplomatic credentials.

The Irish government would expect to have a real and meaningful involvement in Northern Ireland if efforts to restore Stormont fail, the Irish prime minister has said. Leo Varadkar said he would not support a return to direct rule from London if time is called on talks to restore a power-sharing government in Belfast, and anticipated he would make a fresh bid for a deal in January.

Venezuela’s foreign minister blamed the United States for his country’s spiraling debt crisis, saying Washington’s “permanent attack” had left the economy crippled. Jorge Arreaza lashed out at Donald Trump, US and European sanctions, and American interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs at the Venezuelan embassy in Beijing during a three-day official visit.

Two former top South American football executives have been found guilty of multiple charges at a US trial into corruption in the sport: Jose Maria Marin, the former head of Brazil's Football Confederation (CBF), and Paraguay's Juan Ángel Napout, who led South America's football governing body Conmebol, were convicted on Friday.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has insisted she is more than Madame Brexit, having been given the title by Poland's prime minister. She said there were other things she wanted to achieve apart from delivering a successful exit from the EU - such as improvements to education and training, and insisted she was in it for the long-term, shrugging off suggestions she had had a bad year.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday said he would not hold talks with exiled Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont in the wake of the results of Catalan regional elections held Thursday.

Keppel Corporation's offshore and marine unit has reached a global resolution with criminal authorities in the United States, Brazil and Singapore in relation to corrupt payments made by a former agent in Brazil. The resolution, involving three jurisdictions across the world, is unprecedented for a Singapore company.

The Trump administration on Friday recognized the results of Honduras’ disputed presidential election, despite problems found by poll observers and calls from the U.S. Congress for a new vote. In a statement, the U.S. State Department congratulated President Juan Orlando Hernandez on his re-election, but also urged the country’s electoral commission to examine all disputes to the result.

Damian Green, one of British Prime Minister Theresa May's closest allies, has been sacked from the cabinet after an inquiry found he had breached the ministerial code. He was asked to quit after he was found to have made inaccurate and misleading statements over what he knew about claims pornography was found on his office computer in 2008.

A resolution backed overwhelmingly by the United Nations has effectively called on the US to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The vote in support of the resolution was 128, nine against and 35 abstentions. The South American Mercosur block, currently holding a summit in Brasilia, voted divided, while Brazil and Uruguay supported the resolution, Argentina and Paraguay abstained.