
Brazil seized 25.3 tons of cocaine bound for Europe and Africa in the first half of 2019, up more than 90 percent on the same period last year, officials said on Monday. Nearly half of the drugs were found at Santos port in southern Brazil, not far from where police recently arrested two men suspected of belonging to Italian mafia 'Ndrangheta'.

Germany's ambassador to Venezuela has returned after being expelled by President Nicolas Maduro's government in March over Berlin's backing of opposition leader Juan Guaido's claim to the presidency, the German embassy said on Monday.

Congo's health minister, Oly Ilunga, resigned on Monday in protest at the presidency's announcement last week that it was stripping his team of control over the response to the Ebola outbreak.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro again criticized a state agency that monitors the Amazon, saying on Sunday that its latest report on increased deforestation damages Brazil’s reputation amid what he says is an “environmental psychosis” overseas about environmental protection in South America’s biggest nation.

Two more Iranian bulk carriers that came to Brazil carrying urea and were expected to return home with corn could be left without enough fuel, as Brazil's Petrobras refuses to provide them with bunker fuel due to U.S. sanctions.

Growing distrust between the United States and China has slowed the once steady flow of Chinese cash into America, with Chinese investment plummeting by nearly 90% since President Donald Trump took office.

Simba and Mufasa reigned supreme this weekend as Disney's The Lion King dominated box office charts. Director Jon Favreau's remake of the animated classic collected a massive US$185 million 4,756 North American theatres during its first three days of release.

British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Sunday that he would resign if Boris Johnson became prime minister because he felt unable to support a leader happy to take the country out of the European Union without a deal.

Prime Minister Theresa May will hold a meeting of Britain's emergencies committee on Monday to discuss Iran's seizure of a UK-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf. In one of her final important acts as prime minister before resigning on Wednesday, May will chair a meeting of Britain's COBR emergencies committee at around 10.30am (0930 GMT), her Downing Street office said.

The Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has condemned recent attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and Sea of Oman at its meeting in London held from 15-19 July.