Politics

Wednesday, March 20th 2019 - 10:30 UTC
Trump and the “Trump of the tropics” exchange conservative praise

United States president Donald Trump and Brazil’s new leader Jair Bolsonaro forged a bond over their shared brand of conservative and populist politics on Tuesday, with Trump pledging to give more U.S. support to Brazil’s global ambitions.
Wednesday, March 20th 2019 - 10:20 UTC
Trump warns GM: “close a plant in China or Mexico and bring jobs home!”

President Donald Trump is escalating his pressure on General Motors, as he calls for the company to reopen an Ohio manufacturing plant.
Wednesday, March 20th 2019 - 10:07 UTC
Angela Merkel to the rescue of an “orderly Brexit”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will fight for an “orderly Brexit” until “the very last hour”. Mrs Merkel said that current events were in a “state of flux”, adding that European Union leaders would try to react to whatever the UK proposed. The UK is due to leave the EU in 10 days' time, with or without a deal.
Wednesday, March 20th 2019 - 10:04 UTC
Robust action against Islamphobia in the Conservative party, claims chairman Brandon Lewis

The Conservative Party's complaints process is “robust”, the party chairman has said, after a campaign group wrote to him about claims of Islamophobia. Hope Not Hate's Nick Lowles asked for Brandon Lewis to clarify his claim that all complaints of Islamophobia by party members had been dealt with.
Wednesday, March 20th 2019 - 10:01 UTC
Boeing's commercial division makes major reshuffle in top positions; US$ 500bn in 737Max orders on hold

 Boeing Co's commercial airplane division, facing its biggest crisis in years following deadly crashes of its flagship 737Max, has brought in a new vice president of engineering while dedicating another top executive to the aircraft investigations, a company email showed on Tuesday.
Wednesday, March 20th 2019 - 09:57 UTC
Venezuelan opposition makes new offer to the military hoping they will switch sides

Members of the Venezuelan armed forces that abandon President Nicolas Maduro will keep their rank and be reinstated once a new government is in place, the opposition-controlled legislature said on Tuesday. The announcement marked the latest offer from the National Assembly, headed by opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido, to try to convince more military personnel to switch sides.
Wednesday, March 20th 2019 - 09:49 UTC
Mrs. May, with a divided cabinet, writes to EU requesting postponing Brexit; she flies to Brussels on Thursday

Prime Minister Theresa May is writing to the EU to formally ask for Brexit to be postponed. One ministerial source told the BBC the longer delay could be up to two years, amid reports of a cabinet row, but No 10 said no decision had been made.
Wednesday, March 20th 2019 - 09:14 UTC
Brazil: convoy with nuclear fuel came under fire; police escort repel attack

Armed men shot at members of a convoy transporting uranium to one of Brazil’s two working nuclear power plants on a coastal road in Rio de Janeiro state on Tuesday, police and the company managing the plant said.
Tuesday, March 19th 2019 - 20:59 UTC
Venezuelan gold crisis: US imposes sanctions on state mining company

United States Treasury Department announced new sanctions on Venezuelan state-run ferrous metals mining Company, Minerven, and its President, Adrián Antonio Perdomo on Tuesday for promoting “illicit” gold operations that have continued to prop up the regime of President Nicolas Maduro.
Tuesday, March 19th 2019 - 09:05 UTC
Another corruption charge for ex president Cristina Fernandez: fraudulent import of liquid gas

Argentina's former president Cristina Kirchner was charged in yet another corruption investigation on Monday, in this case over the fraudulent import of liquid gas. Judge Claudio Bonadio, who Cristina Kirchner accuses of political persecution, requested that the ex-president be placed in pre-trial detention, but her partial immunity as a senator shields her from imprisonment.