Politics

• Saturday, August 5th 2017 - 07:55 UTC

  Mercosur foreign ministers will discuss the Venezuela situation in Brazil

  

  Mercosur foreign ministers are scheduled to meet this Saturday in Sao Paulo to decide on to how to address latest events in Venezuela, the fifth member of the group which remains suspended, and so far has not replied to calls to cancel the constituent assembly procedure and attempt some form of dialogue with the political opposition.

• Saturday, August 5th 2017 - 06:54 UTC

  Standard Chartered moves European base to Frankfurt because of Brexit

  

  Standard Chartered is set to spend about US$20m to turn its Frankfurt office into a European base due to Brexit. The bank plans to create a subsidiary at its German branch to maintain access to the European market after Britain withdraws from the European Union.

• Friday, August 4th 2017 - 08:35 UTC

  Brexit uncertainty pounding the economy says Bank of England governor

  

  The governor of the Bank of England has warned that uncertainty over Brexit is already weighing on the economy. Mark Carney's comments came as the Bank voted to hold rates and cut growth forecasts. It edged this year's growth forecast down to 1.7% from its previous forecast of 1.9% made in May and also cut the forecast for 2018 from 1.7% to 1.6%.

• Friday, August 4th 2017 - 08:09 UTC

  Temer expected to retake reforms agenda with Congress, but how strong is he?

  

  Brazil's Congress is expected to reopen the door for a modest pension overhaul as soon as October, lawmakers said before returning to normal business on Thursday following a vote to block a corruption trial against President Michel Temer. Still, legislators warned that Temer must spend some of his newfound political capital either on measures raising tax revenue or a new, less ambitious 2017 budget target.

• Friday, August 4th 2017 - 07:45 UTC

  British Labour party divided on support for Venezuela's Maduro regime

  

  Labour MP close to Jeremy Corbyn has criticized the US's decision to impose sanctions on the Venezuelan president. Chris Williamson said it would be “better to facilitate talks” between the government and opposition amid ongoing political unrest and violence.

• Friday, August 4th 2017 - 07:26 UTC

  Ecuadorean vice president stripped of his authority over corruption allegations

  

  Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno stripped his vice president of his authority Thursday over corruption allegations that emerged amid a battle for power within their ruling leftist coalition. In a signed decree, Moreno said he was withdrawing all the tasks that had been assigned to Vice President Jorge Glas since both took office in May, which included overseeing a production council and earthquake reconstruction.

• Friday, August 4th 2017 - 07:08 UTC

  Venezuela diverting oil to Russia's Rosneft, ignoring contracts in the US

  

  Venezuela's state-run PDVSA has reduced crude sales to its U.S. refining unit Citgo Petroleum while increasing supply to Russia's Rosneft, following a plan signed in May to catch up on overdue deliveries, according to PDVSA documents, sources from the company and its joint ventures.

• Friday, August 4th 2017 - 06:45 UTC

  Transcripts show Trump admonishing Peña Nieto for saying publicly Mexico will not pay for the border wall

  

  United States president Donald Trump urged the Mexican president to stop publicly saying he would not pay for a proposed border wall, according to transcripts. Mr. Trump admonished Enrique Peña Nieto for publicly denouncing the wall during a 27 January phone call, transcripts obtained by the Washington Post show.

• Friday, August 4th 2017 - 06:31 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez could become Senator, but overall Macri will have a stronger block in congress

  

  With less than two weeks for the PASO compulsory primaries in Argentina, in anticipation of the October midterm elections, the ruling political party of president Mauricio Macri “Let us change”, is expected to come out in “a better position”, whether it wins or loses with the revival of Kirchnerism.

• Thursday, August 3rd 2017 - 23:38 UTC

  Qatar files a complaint to WTO on the trade embargo imposed by Gulf neighbors

  

  Qatar has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over a trade embargo imposed by its Gulf neighbors. The complaint accuses Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates of violating the trade group's “core laws and conventions on trade of goods and services, and trade-related aspects of intellectual property,” according to a statement from Qatar's ministry of economy and commerce.