Politics

• Wednesday, March 8th 2017 - 10:12 UTC

  Brazil's worst-ever recession continued during 2016, GDP drops 3.6%

  

  Brazil’s economic woes continue as the country’s worst-ever recession unexpectedly deepened at the end of last year. Gross domestic product contracted by 0.9% between October and December. For all of 2016 it dropped by 3.6%; almost as bad as in 2015 with a 3.8% slump. It was the eighth straight quarter of contraction.

• Wednesday, March 8th 2017 - 09:58 UTC

  Falklands' defense renewal with Israeli sophisticated equipment triggers controversy

  

  Britain has awarded £153 million (US$ 187 million) worth of contracts to equip the Falkland Islands with a new ground-based air-defense system known as Sky Sabre, the Ministry of Defense has confirmed, according to Defense News.

• Wednesday, March 8th 2017 - 09:42 UTC

  Argentina: “The honeymoon with the Macri administration is over” warns analyst Fraga

  

  “The honey moon is over” and the government of President Mauricio Macri must rapidly reconsider its strategy since public opinion is no longer responsive to the expectations of the first fourteen months, according to Argentine political analyst Rosendo Fraga. His analysis was also supported by another political commentator Carlos Pagni, who said all opinion polls indicate a sliding drop in expectations.

• Tuesday, March 7th 2017 - 11:35 UTC

  The only black member of Trump's cabinet equates slaves with immigrants: social media explodes

  

  In his first speech as United States secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson likened slaves forced to come to America to immigrants seeking a better life. “That’s what America is about, a land of dreams and opportunity,” Carson told hundreds of federal employees Monday.

• Tuesday, March 7th 2017 - 09:28 UTC

  Macri challenged by unions: teachers strike delay the first day of school

  

  Thousands of teachers took to the streets of Buenos Aires on Monday, delaying the first day of school for millions of children, as part of a two-day national strike demanding a wage increase to compensate for sky-high inflation last year. Only in two of twenty four provinces, the school year took off normally.

• Tuesday, March 7th 2017 - 09:19 UTC

  Lords again challenge PM May on Brexit plan: they insist with greater say on final terms

  

  United Kingdom ministers are at risk of a second defeat in the House of Lords over the bill paving the way for Brexit talks. Peers may back calls for a “meaningful vote” on the final terms of the UK's withdrawal from the EU and its future relations during a debate on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, March 7th 2017 - 08:56 UTC

  Lord Hague urges an early general election “to strengthen government's hand”

  

  Prime Minister Theresa May should call an early general election, former Tory leader Lord Hague has urged. Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Lord Hague said bringing forward the next election could help the UK secure a better deal in Brexit negotiations.

• Tuesday, March 7th 2017 - 07:36 UTC

  RAF Hercules en route to the Falklands, photographed at Porto Alegre airport

  

  A Royal Air Force Hercules was photographed at the Porto Alegre international airport in August last year when it called allegedly for refueling, en route to the Falkland/Malvinas islands, according to the Rio Grande do Sul main daily Zero Hora. The photo from Centeno Mendes, was published following Argentina's official concern to Brasilia regarding 18 RAF calls in Brazilian airports, in the last two years.

• Monday, March 6th 2017 - 18:45 UTC

  Fillon and Juppe confirm deep division among French conservatives

  

  Former presidential candidate Alain Juppe said on Monday he would not run again despite calls within the conservative Les Republicains party for him to replace the increasingly isolated Francois Fillon, who faces defeat over a phony jobs scandal.

• Monday, March 6th 2017 - 18:34 UTC

  Challenging path for Ulster ruling alliance, following election results

  

  The pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) managed to remain the biggest party with a single seat margin in the Northern Ireland Assembly as the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein closed in on them following March 2 election, according to the latest results announced over the weekend.