Politics

• Friday, March 22nd 2019 - 08:29 UTC

  What new WTO and OECD status would mean for Brazil

  

  Brazil’s agreement with the United States to forgo special treatment by the World Trade Organization (WTO) would apply only to future negotiations within the multilateral trade body, Director General Roberto Azevedo said on Wednesday.

• Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 14:41 UTC

  Brazil: Former President Michel Temer is arrested

  

  Former Brazilian President Michel Temer was arrested on Thursday on corruption charges, a dramatic development in a sprawling corruption probe that has roiled Brazil has showed no sign of slowing.

• Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 10:39 UTC

  EU prepared to grant UK a Brexit delay, if Parliament votes in favor of Mrs. May deal

  

  The European Union could grant Britain’s request for a short Brexit delay if Parliament votes next week in favour of a stalled departure deal, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday.

• Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 10:35 UTC

  Nicaragua agreement: government to release opposition prisoners and sanctions on the country to be lifted

  

  Nicaragua's government agreed on Wednesday to release opposition prisoners within 90 days in order to restart stalled peace talks aimed at ending an 11-month political crisis, a dialogue mediator said.

• Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 10:30 UTC

  New Zealand bans military style semi automatic and assault rifles

  

  New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday that military style semi-automatics and assault rifles will be banned under stronger new gun laws following the killing of 50 people in the country's worst mass shooting.

• Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 10:07 UTC

  Bolivian elections on October 20, not to coincide with Argentina and Uruguay

  

  General elections in Bolivia will now be held on Sunday, October 20, a week earlier than first planned, in order not to clash with elections in Argentina and Uruguay scheduled for October 27. Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) confirmed the decision this week.

• Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 10:02 UTC

  EU fines Google €1.49 billion for blocking rival online search advertisers

  

  Google was fined €1.49 billion ($1.7 billion) on Wednesday for blocking rival online search advertisers, in the third large European Union antitrust penalty for the Alphabet business in two only years.

• Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 09:45 UTC

  Citigroup plans to sell US$ 1.6bn of Venezuelan gold held on collateral

  

  Citigroup Inc plans to sell several tons of gold placed as collateral by Venezuela’s central bank on a US$ 1.6 billion loan after the deadline for repurchasing them expired this month, sources said Reuters, a setback for President Nicolas Maduro’s efforts to hold onto the country’s fast-shrinking reserves.

• Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 09:40 UTC

  Fed confirms it does not expect to raise interest rates in 2019

  

  The US Federal Reserve does not expect to raise interest rates for the rest of 2019 amid slower economic growth. After a two-day meeting, monetary policymakers voted unanimously to keep the US interest rate range between 2.25%-2.5%.

• Thursday, March 21st 2019 - 09:36 UTC

  Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay re-launch bid for 2030 World Cup

  

  Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay re-launched their bid to host the 2030 World Cup following a meeting of their presidents in Buenos Aires on Wednesday. The four national presidents committed to creating a local organizing committee with a representative from each country to coordinate with CONMEBOL, South American football's governing body.