Politics

• Tuesday, March 12th 2019 - 19:31 UTC

  Bachelet “concerned” about the arrest of Venezuelan journalist and activist Luis Carlos Díaz

  

  Luis Carlos Diaz, a Venezuelan journalist who is an expert in networks and critical of the Nicolás Maduro regime, was arrested on Monday, without capture order, by the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) after leaving his radio program, denounced his wife and colleague Naky Soto. On Tuesday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, referred to the arrest and asked the authorities for “urgent access” for her technical mission in Venezuela to Díaz.

• Tuesday, March 12th 2019 - 11:33 UTC

  FAA says Boeing 737MAX8 model is airworthy but US Transport Secretary calls for “appropriate action”

  

  The US Federal Aviation Administration has told airlines it believes Boeing's 737 Max 8 model to be airworthy, after two fatal crashes inside six months. An Ethiopian Airlines plane en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi crashed six minutes after take-off on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board. The incident followed Lion Air 737 Max 8 crash in October that killed 189.

• Tuesday, March 12th 2019 - 10:57 UTC

  South Georgia releases new coin to commemorate Sir Ernest Shackleton

  

  The government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands have released a new coin to commemorate the birth of the famous explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. Born on 15th February 1874, Sir Ernest Shackleton wanted to be an explorer from a very early age, inspired by faraway places that he had read about as a boy. At the age of 16, bored by the school curriculum, he went to work in the Merchant Navy.

• Tuesday, March 12th 2019 - 10:00 UTC

  Bolsonaro caught red handed involved in fake news

  

  Brazil’s bar association and top investigative journalism group Abraji blasted far-right President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday for his latest Twitter attack on the press.

• Tuesday, March 12th 2019 - 09:50 UTC

  US and Brazil reach space accord to be signed next week when Bolsonaro visits Washington

  

  The United States and Brazil have negotiated an accord to safeguard U.S. space technology the South American nation hopes will be used in commercial rockets lifting off from its launch site near the equator, the Brazilian government said on Monday.

• Tuesday, March 12th 2019 - 09:37 UTC

  PM May faces “meaningful vote” with reviewed Brexit deal; Juncker warns there “is no third chance”

  

  Theresa May says she has secured “legally binding” changes to her Brexit deal, a day ahead of MPs voting on it. But European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned if the deal was voted down there was “no third chance”. They spoke at a joint press conference in Strasbourg after a late meeting.

• Tuesday, March 12th 2019 - 09:24 UTC

  Spanish election poll forecasts a hung parliament

  

  Spain’s ruling Socialists would win 134 seats in the upcoming election due April 28, though would fall short of a majority in the 350-seat parliament forcing it to seek allies to pass legislation, a poll showed on Monday.

• Tuesday, March 12th 2019 - 09:02 UTC

  Brexit impact has moved some £900bn in financial firms' assets out of the UK

  

  A report into the impact of Brexit on banking and finance firms says some £900bn in financial firms' assets have been moved out of the UK. It adds this has cost £3bn-4bn and involves 5,000 expected staff moves or local hires, and that figure will rise.

• Tuesday, March 12th 2019 - 08:58 UTC

  Internet inventor says the web is “plunging downwards to a dysfunctional future”

  

  Global action is required to tackle the web's “downward plunge to a dysfunctional future”, its inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee has told the BBC. He made the comments in an exclusive interview to mark 30 years since he submitted his proposal for the web. Sir Tim said people had realized how their data could be “manipulated” after the Cambridge Analytica scandal

• Tuesday, March 12th 2019 - 07:21 UTC

  Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Day Message

  

  The Queen has used her Commonwealth Day message to praise how the family of nations inspires its member states to find ways of protecting the planet and its citizens. Millions of people are “drawn together” because of the collective values shared by the institution, the Queen says in her address to the 53 countries of the Commonwealth.