Politics

• Wednesday, June 3rd 2015 - 02:06 UTC

  Blatter resigns but says will remain in control until successor's election

  

  Sepp Blatter, who four days ago was re-elected for a fifth four-year term as president of FIFA, the world football's governing body announced on Tuesday in Zurich that he would resign his position and lay down his mandate at an extraordinary elective congress to be held later in the year.

• Tuesday, June 2nd 2015 - 06:26 UTC

  Argentine police video on Nisman's death shows experts working without latex gloves

  

  The lead investigator in the mysterious death of special prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who had accused Argentina's president of wrongdoing, came under sharp criticism on Monday with a video showing police experts working without latex gloves at the apartment where the body was found last January.

• Tuesday, June 2nd 2015 - 06:09 UTC

  Malaysia Airlines 'technically bankrupt' contracts 'Terminator' to restructure the company

  

  Malaysia Airlines is “technically bankrupt”, its chief executive has said, as he announced a restructuring program and plans to cut about 6,000 jobs. The announcement follows the twin air disasters which forced its nationalization last year.

• Tuesday, June 2nd 2015 - 06:01 UTC

  Canadian tobacco companies ordered to pay 12bn dollars for failing to warn health risks

  

  A Canadian court has ordered three tobacco companies to pay 15.5bn Canadian dollars ($12bn), the largest award for damages in the country's history. The plaintiffs were Quebec smokers who said the firms failed to warn them of health risks associated with smoking.

• Tuesday, June 2nd 2015 - 05:58 UTC

  Spain's Iberia resumed flights to Cuba after a two-year absence

  

  After two years of absence, the Spanish airline Iberia on Monday resumed flights to Havana. The Cuban tourism ministry confirmed last Friday that on June first, the flight marking the resumption of operations between Madrid and Havana would arrive at the Jose Marti International Airport.

• Tuesday, June 2nd 2015 - 05:44 UTC

  Teachers take to the streets of Chile to protest education bill in Congress

  

  Several thousand teachers poured into the streets of Santiago and other cities of Chile to express their rejection of an education bill currently being debated in Congress. The Monday march marked the first day of a strike called by the teachers union, which demands changes in key aspects of a bill that includes some of the reforms to the education system being promoted by the Michelle Bachelet government.

• Tuesday, June 2nd 2015 - 05:39 UTC

  Jacobson nominated as new ambassador to Mexico, announced the White House

  

  U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday announced his intention to nominate Roberta Jacobson, the assistant secretary of state for Latin America and the chief U.S. negotiator at the talks to resume diplomatic relations with Cuba, as the new ambassador to Mexico, the White House announced in a communiqué.

• Tuesday, June 2nd 2015 - 05:32 UTC

  Argentina states 'lack of confidence' in mediator Pollack named by Judge Griesa

  

  The Argentine government has turned down a plea from mediator Daniel Pollack to return to the negotiating table with holdout investors, with the Economy Ministry considering that talks with the speculative funds, so-called 'vulture funds', would be inappropriate given the behavior of the litigants.

• Tuesday, June 2nd 2015 - 05:18 UTC

  FIFA scandal points to Valcke, as 'high ranking official' in US$ 10m transfer

  

  The ongoing FIFA scandal has prompted FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke to skip the opening news conference of the Women’s World Cup. As of Sunday evening, Valcke had been slated to attend Thursday’s event in Vancouver along with Canadian and other officials. But that changed Monday afternoon.

• Monday, June 1st 2015 - 23:00 UTC

  RSF writes to Dilma Rousseff asking for an end to murders and impunity against media personnel

  

  Appalled by the brutal murders of two Brazilian journalists in the space of a few days, Reporters Without Borders has written to President Dilma Roussef asking her to end the prevailing impunity for crimes of violence against media personnel in her country.