Politics

• Monday, January 21st 2019 - 09:17 UTC

  Former minister and advisor confirms payments of bribes in hand to Lula da Silva

  

  Antonio Palocci, who was minister during the governments of Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, affirmed that he gave the former president, in “several opportunities”, cash proceeds of bribes from the construction companies Odebrecht and Andrade Gutierrez, according to the Globo Group.

• Monday, January 21st 2019 - 08:45 UTC

  UK parliamentary committee urges MSC to review sustainable fishing standards

  

  A UK parliamentary committee has called on the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to address concerns about the organization's standard for sustainable fishing in the world's oceans. The House of Commons' Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) issued recommendations following its Sustainable Seas inquiry, whose findings were published last November.

• Monday, January 21st 2019 - 07:58 UTC

  Theresa May back to Parliament to explain her next moves

  

  Theresa May will try to convince Tory Brexiteers and DUP MPs to back her withdrawal deal by resolving Irish backstop concerns, Cabinet sources say. Last week, Mrs May said she would focus on cross-party talks to get a Brexit deal accepted by Parliament.

• Monday, January 21st 2019 - 07:47 UTC

  Falklands supports a visit next March of the families from the 18 newly identified Argentine soldiers

  

  The Falkland Islands government said in a release that if the families of the 18 newly identified Argentine soldiers might wish to visit the Falklands in March, “we would support this”, as part of the humanitarian obligations, in much the same way the Islands facilitated the DNA process.

• Sunday, January 20th 2019 - 05:07 UTC

  Lopez Obrador vows to end fuel theft; dozens die when thieves puncture gasoline pipeline

  

  Mexico’s president vowed on Saturday to redouble his fight against an epidemic of fuel theft after thieves punctured a pipeline north of Mexico City, causing an explosion that killed at least 73 people and injured 75 others. The blast underscored the deadly perils of the fuel-theft racket, which has cost the government billions of dollars a year and has been the target of a weeks' long crackdown by the administration of Mexico’s new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

• Saturday, January 19th 2019 - 09:36 UTC

  Brazil plans a self-monitoring system for food processors, despite a non-encouraging record

  

  Brazil is moving toward a self-monitoring system for food processors, Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias said on Friday, including meatpackers still recovering from an inspection scandal that hurt trade with key markets. Dias said in an interview that Brazil's new business-friendly government plans to send draft legislation on self-monitoring to Congress in the first half of this year.

• Saturday, January 19th 2019 - 09:28 UTC

  Brazilian lawmakers trip to China triggers strong controversy among Bolsonaro's bunker

  

  A trip to China by lawmakers from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's party has stirred anger in the far-right leader's entourage, partly because of his wariness of the Asian power but also because of the group's stated mission. The delegation of eight members of Bolsonaro's ultraconservative Social Liberal Party (PSL) said it was on the visit to check out Chinese facial-recognition technology, with a view to it maybe being used in Brazil to combat crime.

• Saturday, January 19th 2019 - 09:23 UTC

  Four years on ex prosecutor Nisman’s death remains unsolved, as the AMIA attack from 1994

  

  Israeli and Jewish leaders on Friday marked the fourth anniversary of Argentine federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman’s murder by unveiling a memorial plaque in his honour at the Ben Shemen forest in central Israel.

• Saturday, January 19th 2019 - 09:13 UTC

  Argentina complies with IMF 2018 primary fiscal deficit target: 2.4% of GDP

  

  Argentina outperformed its primary fiscal deficit target for 2018, Economy Minister Nicolas Dujovne said on Friday, assuring that the country’s standby finance deal with the International Monetary Fund remains on track.

• Saturday, January 19th 2019 - 08:50 UTC

  Germany plans to block China's Huawei products from its 5G network

  

  Germany is considering ways to block Huawei from its next-generation mobile phone network, according to reports. Berlin is exploring stricter security requirements which may prevent Huawei products being used in its 5G network.