Politics

• Friday, September 4th 2020 - 08:44 UTC

  Brazil tightens safety demands for dams in the mining industry

  

  Brazil's Senate passed a bill on Wednesday that tightens the safety rules and inspection for dams in the mining industry, setting fines of up to 1 billion reais (US$ 200 million) for failure to comply.

• Friday, September 4th 2020 - 08:41 UTC

  Brazil reiterates that Covid-19 vaccines will not be obligatory

  

  Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro, who has consistently downplayed the severity of the coronavirus outbreak, reiterated on Thursday that COVID-19 vaccinations will not be obligatory when they become available.

• Friday, September 4th 2020 - 08:25 UTC

  France criticizes US for sanctioning International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor

  

  France led criticism of US sanctions on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Thursday, saying Washington had launched a “serious attack” on the global body.

• Friday, September 4th 2020 - 08:15 UTC

  Palau in the Pacific urges US military to build bases to contain Beijing influence

  

  The tiny Pacific nation of Palau has urged the United States military to build bases on its territory - which lies in a region where Washington is pushing back against growing Chinese influence.

• Thursday, September 3rd 2020 - 19:02 UTC

  Falkland Islands Government continue to uphold humanitarian principles

  

  Since the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) first began DNA work in 2017 to identify unknown Argentine soldiers buried in the islands, the Falkland Islands Government has continued to uphold both its humanitarian principles and commitment to the Geneva Convention.

• Thursday, September 3rd 2020 - 08:56 UTC

  Bolsonaro's popularity soars as he extends payments for low income Brazilians until 2021

  

  Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro extended until the end of the year payments for low-income Brazilians hit by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, a program that has boosted his popularity but created tension with his finance team.

• Thursday, September 3rd 2020 - 08:51 UTC

  Truckers end seven day strike in Chile following deal with government

  

  Chilean truckers said on Wednesday they would lift a seven-day strike that has damaged supply chains and raised fears for food and commodities exports, following a deal with the government. Jose Villagran, vice president of the National Confederation of the Chilean Cargo Transport (CNTC), said the strike would end at 3 p.m. local time.

• Thursday, September 3rd 2020 - 08:49 UTC

  Brazil with record trade surplus in August, despite an overall fall in global transactions

  

  Brazil obtained a record trade surplus of US$ 6,6 billion during the month of August, the highest for the month since 1989. However overall dropped with exports sliding 5.5% to US$ 17,741bn and imports, 25,1%, to US$ 11,133bn. In eight months the trade surplus reached US$ 36,594bn, the third-best historically in the last forty years.

• Thursday, September 3rd 2020 - 08:44 UTC

  Snowden' vindication: NSA mass surveillance program of US phones unlawful, and US intelligence leaders lied

  

  Seven years after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the mass surveillance of US’ telephone records, an appeals court has found the program was unlawful - and that the U.S. intelligence leaders who publicly defended it were not telling the truth.

• Thursday, September 3rd 2020 - 08:00 UTC

  Brazilian Football Confederation approves equal pay for women and men's national teams

  

  The Brazilian Football Confederation says it agreed in March to pay women’s national team players the same as their peers on the men’s side, it was reported Wednesday. Brazil thus becomes one of the few countries to adopt an equal pay policy for both women’s and men’s football.