U.S. authorities have joined Brazil’s investigation into alleged bribery involving Petrobras and some of the world’s largest trading companies, according to the Brazilian law enforcement officer in charge of the probe.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has no fever or pain and is quickly overcoming a bout of pneumonia, signs that his medical condition is improving, spokesman General Otavio Rego Barros said on Friday.
The European Union and a group of Latin American governments that have kept a moderate line on Venezuela called on Thursday for democratic and fresh elections, during a meeting held in Montevideo. The EU-backed International Contact Group on Venezuela said overly forceful intervention could aggravate the crisis.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday he did not plan to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping before a March 1 deadline set by the two countries to achieve a trade deal.
British Prime Minister Theresa May came away from a day in an increasingly impatient Brussels on Thursday with a pledge of renewed talks that held out some hope for a new Brexit deal, if no sign of compromise yet. Ms May is scheduled to fly to Dublin this Friday.
The Bank of England expects growth this year to be the slowest since 2009 when the economy was in recession. It is forecasting growth of 1.2% this year, down from its previous November forecast of 1.7%. The Bank said it had seen further evidence that businesses were being cautious in the run-up to Brexit, including evidence from its own survey of firms. As expected the Bank kept interest rates on hold at 0.75%.
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid for crisis-stricken Venezuela arrived in the Colombian border city of Cucuta on Thursday as diplomatically-isolated President Nicolas Maduro appeared set to block its entry amid an escalating political crisis.
Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has pneumonia after registering a fever during a hospital stay, but a tweet on the far-right leader’s Twitter profile on Thursday said he was “well.”Bolsonaro had an operation on Jan. 28 to remove a colostomy bag that was put in place after he was stabbed while campaigning ahead of Brazil’s election last year.
The High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini warned on Thursday at the meeting of the International Contact Group in Montevideo, on a beside the president of Uruguay, Tabaré Vázquez, that the group does not seek a “direct negotiation” but a free, transparent and credible Presidential election in Venezuela.
Montevideo, the capital of “neutral/neutralized” Uruguay is hosting this Thursday an international gathering with countries of the Americas and the European Union to address, and attempt to solve or find a way out to the delicate and worsening situation in Venezuela.