Politics

• Wednesday, February 6th 2019 - 09:22 UTC

  “Neutral” Uruguay's name mentioned in attempts to drain Venezuelan coffers

  

  A bank in Portugal has blocked Venezuela’s attempt to transfer US$ 1.2 billion to Uruguay, a lawmaker said on Tuesday as the opposition to President Nicolas Maduro warned of the theft of public funds, while the United States sent food and medical aid to the Venezuelan-Colombian border.

• Wednesday, February 6th 2019 - 09:20 UTC

  Vale in deep legal “sludge” over dam burst: 135 dead and 200 missing

  

  A report commissioned by Brazilian miner Vale SA last year to look into the stability of the tailings dam that ruptured January 25, killing 135, certified it as sound but raised concerns over its drainage and monitoring systems, newspaper Folha de S Paulo reported on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, February 6th 2019 - 09:09 UTC

  Sexual abuse of nuns by clerics, including abortions, 'and still going', was admitted by Pope Francis

  

  Pope Francis has admitted that clerics have sexually abused nuns, and in one case they were kept as sex slaves. He said in that case his predecessor, Pope Benedict, was forced to shut down an entire congregation of nuns who were being abused by priests.

• Wednesday, February 6th 2019 - 08:58 UTC

  US humanitarian aid stationed at the Colombia/Venezuela border

  

  Trucks carrying food and medical supplies sent by the United States to be stockpiled until it can be brought into Venezuela will arrive later this week at Guaido’s request and will be prepositioned at the main Colombian-Venezuelan border crossing at Cucuta, U.S. sources revealed

• Wednesday, February 6th 2019 - 08:54 UTC

  Bolsonaro remains in semi intensive care unit, with no discharge date

  

  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s medical condition has improved, with no fever, but he remains in semi-intensive care with visits restricted and there is no date set for him to leave the hospital, his spokesman, Otavio de Rego Barros said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, February 6th 2019 - 08:45 UTC

  Brussels insists the Irish backstop agreed with PM May is the “only operational solution”

  

  Brussels has stepped up its opposition to attempts to reopen Theresa May’s Brexit deal as senior Tories began talks on alternatives to the Irish backstop. The European Union’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said the backstop was the “only operational solution” to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.

• Tuesday, February 5th 2019 - 09:40 UTC

  Falklands Sao Paulo air link to become operational next October to coincide with tourist season

  

  Argentina and the UK have agreed that the second commercial air link between the Falkland Islands and South America, with a stopover at Cordoba, Argentina, will begin operational next October in coincidence with the South Atlantic summer tourist season, according to Martin Dinatale, an Argentine journalist who specializes in diplomatic affairs.

• Tuesday, February 5th 2019 - 09:35 UTC

  Trump's pick for the World Bank, a skeptic of multilateral institutions

  

  The Trump administration has notified World Bank shareholders that President Donald Trump intends to pick senior Treasury Department official David Malpass as the U.S. nominee to lead the development lender, people familiar with the decision said on Monday.

• Tuesday, February 5th 2019 - 09:29 UTC

  Bolsonaro ally to lead the Senate, but his negotiating capacity have yet to be tested

  

  The Brazilian Senate elected a pro-government lawmaker as their chief, potentially boosting President Jair Bolsonaro’s reform agenda but also leaving the administration’s strength in the upper house in question. Bolsonaro congratulated Davi Alcolumbre, saying his challenge is to act on Brazilian voters’ desire for change.

• Tuesday, February 5th 2019 - 09:07 UTC

  European allies bend to join 'gringo empire' approach

  

  The decision to promote Juan Guaidó as a rival president to Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela was clearly made in Washington, not in Caracas. The speed with which U.S. allies in the Americas and western Europe recognised Guaidó’s claim on Jan. 23 to be the legitimate president of Venezuela would not have been possible without a lot of prior coordination — and a lot of pressure by the Trump administration.