Politics

• Saturday, December 3rd 2016 - 09:27 UTC

  'Cuban' Maradona warns Macri might not make it past Christmas Day

  

  Argentine retired football player Diego Maradona, in Cuba to attend the funerals of his friend and former revolutionary leader Fidel Catro, hinted that should the people of his country choose to take to the streets, President Mauricio Macri might not be in office by Christmas.

• Saturday, December 3rd 2016 - 09:19 UTC

  Venezuela suspended from Mercosur - Maduro's Foreign Minister says it did not happen

  

  The founding Mercosur countries Friday suspended Venezuela from full membership of the free-trade bloc in view of its failure to adjust its domestic regulations to economic agreements and human rights and immigration guidelines and principles that are mandatory to all the other members.

• Saturday, December 3rd 2016 - 08:03 UTC

  Beppe Grillo, Italy's Donald Trump: “I say NO”

  

  By Gwynne Dyer - “Today saying No is the most beautiful and glorious form of politics....Whoever doesn't understand that can go screw themselves.” It could have been Donald Trump before the US election two weeks ago, or Boris Johnson during the Brext campaign in Britain last June, but it was actually Beppe Grillo, founder and leader of Italy's populist Five Star Movement.

• Saturday, December 3rd 2016 - 07:44 UTC

  Brexit controversy ousts Tories from safe seat: Lib Dem newcomer Sarah Olney wins by election

  

  Lib Dem leader Tim Farron claims his party is “back in the big time” after it fought on the issue of Brexit to oust ex-Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith in the Richmond Park by-election. Lib Dem challenger Sarah Olney overturned Goldsmith's 23,015 majority to finish 1,872 votes ahead.

• Saturday, December 3rd 2016 - 07:32 UTC

  US unemployment falls to nine-year low in November, 4.6%, but earnings slowdown

  

  United States unemployment rate fell to a nine-year low in November, adding to expectations that US interest rates will rise later this month. Figures from the Labor Department showed the US economy created 178,000 jobs in November, while the jobless rate fell to 4.6% from 4.9% in October.

• Saturday, December 3rd 2016 - 07:25 UTC

  Austria's Sunday presidential election with an eye on Brexit and Trump's victory

  

  Austrian voters could elect the European Union’s first far-right leader in the a presidential election on Sunday. Norbert Hofer of the far-right Freedom Party is running against Alexander Van der Bellen. Van der Bellen is an independent candidate who led The Greens party earlier. Recent public opinion studies have shown the two candidates with about equal support.

• Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 10:52 UTC

  Putin wants Trump to be his ally in fighting terrorism

  

  Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday said he needed friends in his fight against terrorism and invited US President-elect Donald Trump to normalize relations between the two countries, which have deteriorated considerably under Barack Obama.

• Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 10:43 UTC

  Brazilian sources say Venezuela's suspension from Mercosur to be announced Friday

  

  Nicolas Maduro's Venezuela has been suspended from the Mercosur regional trade bloc for failing to meet its membership requirements, a Brazilian government source revealed Thursday. And the official announcement is to be made Friday, which could not be corroborated in Buenos Aires' diplomatic circles.

• Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 09:33 UTC

  Hollande will not run for re-election; conservative Fillon calls it a lucid reaction “to failure”

  

  French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday he would not seek a second term in next year's presidential election, a surprise move that clears the way for an alternative left-wing candidate, most probably his prime minister Manuel Valls.

• Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 08:43 UTC

  Italy's referendum could knock out Rienzi and unleash a financial volcano

  

  The focus of the news from Italy this weekend will be political: there's a referendum on constitutional reform and the Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, has said he will resign if the proposals are rejected. This could be followed by new elections which could in turn benefit the Five Star Movement, an anti-Euro group led by the former comedian Beppe Grillo.