Politics

• Tuesday, December 18th 2018 - 09:35 UTC

  Creditors demanding payment of US$ 1.5 billion Venezuelan bond in default

  

  A group of creditors has demanded payment on a US$ 1.5 billion Venezuelan bond that is in default, their lawyer said on Monday, kicking off a long-awaited showdown between creditors and the crisis-wracked OPEC nation. President Nicolas Maduro’s government and state-owned companies owe nearly US$ 8 billion in unpaid interest and principal following this year’s default on bonds amid a hyperinflationary collapse of the country’s once-wealthy socialist economy.

• Tuesday, December 18th 2018 - 09:31 UTC

  Twitter warns on a “bug-in-help-form” and unusual activity from China and Saudi Arabia

  

  Twitter has warned of “unusual activity” from China and Saudi Arabia related to a bug in a help form. The bug - discovered on 15 November and fixed the day after - could have revealed the country code of users' phone numbers or if their account was locked, the company said.

• Tuesday, December 18th 2018 - 09:25 UTC

  Bolsonaro disinvites Venezuelan and Cuban presidents to his swearing in

  

  The Brazilian Foreign Ministry on Monday confirmed that it had called off invitations sent to Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel and his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, for the inauguration of President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, local media reported.

• Tuesday, December 18th 2018 - 09:23 UTC

  Mexico new government first budget committed “to fiscal and financial discipline”

  

  Mexico’s new government avoided major surprises in its closely watched first budget, sticking to promises made to investors who have been jittery about plans for Latin America’s No. 2 economy.

• Tuesday, December 18th 2018 - 09:20 UTC

  Maduro boasts that the civilian militia has grown to 1.6 million members

  

  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday the country’s civil militia had grown to 16 million members - more than tripling in size from the beginning of the year - and that its mission was to defend the country against external aggression.

• Tuesday, December 18th 2018 - 09:17 UTC

  Labour's Jeremy Corbyn has called for a no confidence vote in PM Theresa May

  

  The leader of Britain’s main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said he was calling for a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Theresa May — a largely symbolic gesture — for not putting her Brexit plan to a vote by lawmakers immediately.

• Tuesday, December 18th 2018 - 09:08 UTC

  US wins “dolphin safe” tuna-labeling legal battle against Mexico at WTO

  

  The United States won a legal battle over “dolphin safe” tuna-labeling on Friday, when the World Trade Organization’s appeals judges dismissed Mexico’s argument that the U.S. labeling rules violated WTO rules

• Tuesday, December 18th 2018 - 08:00 UTC

  García Márquez relative rescued from kidnappers in Colombia after 3 months

  

  Melissa Martínez García, a relative of the late Nobel Literature Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez has been freed after being kidnapped and held for ransom for over three months, Colombian authorities announced Monday.

• Tuesday, December 18th 2018 - 07:48 UTC

  Evo to attend Bolsonaro's inauguration in Brasilia Jan. 1

  

  Bolivia's President Evo Morales will attend the inauguration of Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro, on January 1 in Brasilia, Foreign Minister Diego Pary announced Monday.

• Tuesday, December 18th 2018 - 07:04 UTC

  Pompeo will lead US delegation to Brazilian president Bolsonaro's inauguration

  

  United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will lead a delegation to the January first presidential inauguration of Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, president Donald Trump announced on Monday.