Politics

• Saturday, February 2nd 2019 - 09:09 UTC

  Brazilian Lower House new leader pledges support for Bolsonaro's reforms

  

  Brazil’s lower house of Congress reelected on Friday by a vast majority Rodrigo Maia, from the Democratas party, for a new two-year term as president of the chamber. Maia had the support of Brazil’s newly elected President Jair Bolsonaro and has pledged to work with the new administration to pass key reforms seen as crucial for the country to balance its budget, such as the pension reform.

• Saturday, February 2nd 2019 - 08:59 UTC

  Argentine central bank “ready” to counter surprises ahead of this year's presidential election

  

  Argentina’s central bank has sufficient dollar firepower to deal with a spike in demand for the greenback if uncertainty over the country’s upcoming presidential election prompts another run on the peso, bank sources said on Friday.

• Saturday, February 2nd 2019 - 08:58 UTC

  Oil traders anticipate they will comply with US Treasury sanctions on Venezuela

  

  U.S. sanctions will sharply limit oil transactions between Venezuela and other countries and are similar to but slightly less extensive than those imposed on Iran last year, experts said on Friday after looking at details posted by the Treasury Department.

• Saturday, February 2nd 2019 - 08:49 UTC

  Argentine Jewish institutions divided over strategy to help find culprits of several crimes against the community

  

  Two of Argentina's leading Jewish entities, the AMIA and the DAIA, this week made public their its difference over a role as a plaintiff in a criminal complaint against former president-cum-senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, involving a controversial Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2013 with the regime of Iran.

• Friday, February 1st 2019 - 14:09 UTC

  Religious Freedom: Human Rights Organizations calls for shutdown of the Korea’s Christian Council

  

  On January 27, 30,000 people gathered in at Seul’s Gwanghwamun Square in a rally coordinated by the Global Citizens' Human Rights Coalition. People from civil society organizations and religious groups came together calling the Christian Council of Korea (CCK) to be held accountable for their ”unconstitutional actions and ultimately shut down,” local media reported.

• Friday, February 1st 2019 - 11:10 UTC

  Brazil's fiscal deficit in December, a challenge for Bolsonaro and the new Congress

  

  The Brazilian government posted a fiscal deficit of 41.13 billion reais (US$ 11.27 billion) in December, the third widest monthly deficit on record, the central bank said on Thursday. While it was in line with forecasts and amplified by seasonal factors, the shortfall highlights the challenge of exerting tighter control over the country's finances which new President Jair Bolsonaro has said is one of his top priorities.

• Friday, February 1st 2019 - 10:43 UTC

  New Brazilian Congress opens with great challenges, but Bolsonaro has been made vulnerable by Flavio's finances

  

  The real business of governing Brazil starts this Friday for president Jair Messias Bolsonaro with the opening of the new congress through which his ambitious reform program must pass. The former army captain is currently absent from Brasilia will have to follow events from his hospital bed in São Paulo, where he is recovering from a third major operation following his stabbing at a campaign rally last year that almost cost him his life.

• Friday, February 1st 2019 - 10:38 UTC

  Dam burst in Brazil confirms 110 deaths and 238 missing: “deadliest-ever mine disaster”

  

  Residents devastated by a mining dam burst in Brazil that may have killed more than 300 people reacted on Thursday with indifference and in many cases anger to miner Vale SA’s pledges to pay victims’ families and improve safety.

• Friday, February 1st 2019 - 10:34 UTC

  France, Germany and UK agree on new channel to trade with Iran and avert US sanctions

  

  France, Germany and Britain have opened a new channel for non-dollar trade with Iran to avert U.S. sanctions, although diplomats say it is unlikely to allow for the big transactions that Tehran says it needs to keep a nuclear deal afloat. Washington’s major European allies opposed last year’s decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to abandon the 2015 deal, under which international sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for Tehran accepting curbs on its nuclear program.

• Friday, February 1st 2019 - 10:25 UTC

  EU Parliament recognizes Guaidó as de facto head of state: 90 days for Venezuela to hold new elections

  

  The European Parliament recognized Venezuela’s self-declared interim president Juan Guaido as de facto head of state on Thursday, heightening international pressure on the OPEC member’s socialist President Nicolas Maduro. EU governments, divided over whether to recognize Guaido, also agreed to lead an international crisis group with South American nations to seek new elections, setting a 90-day time limit, and threatening further economic sanctions.