Politics

• Tuesday, February 19th 2019 - 08:25 UTC

  Bolsonaro fires head of president's office: “difference of opinion on important issues”

  

  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday fired one of his most senior aides and cabinet members, Gustavo Bebianno, amid a scandal involving campaign financing for some of his party's congressional candidates. Bebianno was secretary general of the president's office.

• Monday, February 18th 2019 - 10:08 UTC

  Russian bank freezes Venezuela's oil company accounts, fearing US sanctions

  

  Russian lender Gazprombank has frozen the accounts of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and halted transactions with the firm to reduce the risk of the bank falling under US sanctions, according to Reuters.

• Monday, February 18th 2019 - 10:05 UTC

  PM Theresa May writes to 317 Tory MPs urging to unite behind a Brexit deal

  

  Theresa May has written to all 317 Tory MPs, urging them to unite behind a Brexit deal while warning them “history will judge us all” over the process. Efforts will resume this Monday to persuade the EU to agree changes to the “backstop” plan to prevent the return of customs checks on the Irish border.

• Monday, February 18th 2019 - 10:01 UTC

  MPs demand tough urgent action against Facebook to combat spread of fake news

  

  Facebook needs for stricter regulation, with tough and urgent action necessary to end the spread of disinformation on its platform, MPs have said. A House of Commons committee has concluded that the firm's founder Mark Zuckerberg failed to show “leadership or personal responsibility” over fake news.

• Monday, February 18th 2019 - 09:57 UTC

  Bolsonaro learning the hard way: family and politics don't mix

  

  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, one of his politician sons and his ultraconservative party were embroiled in a crisis on Sunday over a campaign finance scandal threatening the leader's anti-corruption image. The 63-year-old far-right president, who is just six weeks into his mandate, spoke with top officials in his government on Friday and Saturday to try to draw a line under the affair, after key allies turned on him.

• Monday, February 18th 2019 - 09:44 UTC

  Argentine Security minister making headlines with her tough on crime policy

  

  Argentina's government, with one eye on elections later in the year, is getting tough on crime, and one figure is taking centre stage: the country's security tsar. Patricia Bullrich, 62, the security minister, is pushing a series of new tough-on-crime measures, including dropping the age for juvenile convictions, equipping cops with stun guns and trialling facial recognition at train stations.

• Monday, February 18th 2019 - 09:29 UTC

  Macri and business delegation in India for trade, investment and cooperation promotion

  

  New Delhi and Buenos Aires are expected to sign up to eight agreements during President Mauricio Macri’s three-day state visit to India to promote trade, investment and cooperation in several fields including defense, Argentine ambassador Daniel Chuburu said. Macri is accompanied by several ministers, members of Congress and a hundred business leaders.

• Monday, February 18th 2019 - 09:26 UTC

  Petrobras settling financial disputes: agrees to pay petroleum regulator US$ 940m

  

  Brazil state-run oil firm Petrobras said it had concluded a long-running dispute with the country’s ANP petroleum regulator, agreeing to pay 3.5 billion reais (US$ 940 million) to end an oil-royalty spat.

• Monday, February 18th 2019 - 08:57 UTC

  UK Government guarantees EU funding programs in Gibraltar

  

  In November, the European Union and the United Kingdom concluded the terms of an agreement for the orderly departure of the UK from the European Union. Gibraltar was part of that agreement. The Withdrawal Agreement includes a transitional phase until the end of 2020, which also covers Gibraltar.

• Monday, February 18th 2019 - 08:50 UTC

  Another Vale tailings dam in Brazil in collapse danger: 200 residents evacuated

  

  Around 200 residents were evacuated from an area near a tailings dam in Brazil operated by Vale SA late on Saturday, amid fears that it was structurally weak and could burst like a similar barrier failure last month that killed some 300 people.