Politics

• Monday, January 18th 2016 - 05:34 UTC

  War between Saudi Arabia and Iran could send oil prices to $250

  

  By James Stafford of Oilprice.com - The rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran has quickly ballooned into the worst conflict in decades between the two countries. The back-and-forth escalation quickly turned the simmering tension into an overt struggle for power in the Middle East

• Saturday, January 16th 2016 - 10:58 UTC

  Venezuela in “economic emergency”: Q3 inflation 141.5% and GDP down 7.1%

  

  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government has decreed a 60-day “economic emergency” for the recession-hit OPEC nation reeling from low oil prices and a sputtering state-led economic model. The government on Friday also published the first macroeconomic data for more than a year, showing GDP dropped in the third quarter while inflation surged.

• Saturday, January 16th 2016 - 10:54 UTC

  Unemployment in Brazil during third quarter climbs to 9%

  

  Unemployment in Brazil rose to 9% in the August-October rolling quarter, up from 8.6% during the previous three months, the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics, or IBGE, reported Friday. The jobless rate was 6.6% in August-October 2014.

• Saturday, January 16th 2016 - 10:42 UTC

  Guatemalan president Morales tells the military he wants “justice, not revenge”

  

  Guatemala's new president, Jimmy Morales, said on Friday he wants “justice, not revenge” in reference to ex-army personnel accused of atrocities during his country's 1960-1996 civil war. Following an armed forces ceremony recognizing him as commander-in-chief just one day after he was sworn in, Morales added that he did not want to see action that would “prejudice” the country's values.

• Saturday, January 16th 2016 - 10:31 UTC

  Dead fish and garbage in Rio's Guanabara Bay question Brazil's Olympic celebrations

  

  Thousands of dead fish washed up on the shores of Rio’s Guanabara Bay during the week, not far from where events are being held at this year’s Olympic Games, environmental officials said. The incident was the latest involving water quality in the bay, where sailing, open water swimming, and triathlon races are due to take place during the Games in August.

• Saturday, January 16th 2016 - 07:37 UTC

  Migration to foreign countries surged 41% in the last 15 years, says UN report

  

  The number of people who migrated to foreign countries surged by 41% in the last 15 years to reach 244 million in 2015, according to a United Nations study released this week. Of those people, 20 million are refugees.

• Saturday, January 16th 2016 - 07:32 UTC

  UK confident of positive side for Gibraltar of Spanish royal family visit to UK

  

  The visit by the Spanish Royal family to the United Kingdom, scheduled for March, will celebrate and strengthen the ties between both countries. This according to the British Ambassador in Madrid, Simon Manley, who highlighted the existing co-operation between the law enforcement agencies in Spain and Gibraltar.

• Friday, January 15th 2016 - 12:24 UTC

  Criminal charges against mining companies involved in major waste spill in Brazil

  

  Police in Brazil said Thursday they have brought criminal charges against two mining companies and seven executives over a mine waste spill that buried a village and killed 17 people.Federal police accuse Brazilian iron ore giant Vale, mine operator Samarco and company officials including Samarco's chief executive, Ricardo Vescovi, of violating Brazil's environmental crimes law in connection with the disastrous November 5 collapse of a waste reservoir.

• Friday, January 15th 2016 - 12:13 UTC

  US Treasury and Homeland after identification of high end real estate deals in cash

  

  The United States is hunting down international criminals who launder money through real estate deals, with the Treasury Department ordering title insurance companies to report the identities of people paying cash for high-end properties in Miami and Manhattan.

• Friday, January 15th 2016 - 12:09 UTC

  FIFA fines federations for homophobic remarks from fans, including Argentina, Chile and Uruguay

  

  Anti-gay chants by fans have led to fines for six football associations. Match reports revealed that fans of Argentina, Chile, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay yelled homophobic remarks during qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup.