Politics

• Friday, June 24th 2016 - 18:26 UTC

  Boris Johnson softens Brexit speech: “We are part of Europe; we're not pulling up a drawbridge”

  

  Boris Johnson has insisted the UK is not “turning its back” on Europe after its decision to vote to leave the EU. The decision would not make the UK any less tolerant nor outward looking and would not reduce opportunities for young people, the ex-London mayor said.

• Friday, June 24th 2016 - 12:02 UTC

  Ex-top minister of Lula and Rousseff arrested; Senator Gleisi Hoffmann house raided

  

  A top ex-minister of Brazil's suspended president Dilma Rousseff became the latest official to get arrested in a sprawling corruption probe on Thursday, authorities said. Police also searched the headquarters of Rousseff's Workers Party in Sao Paulo in one of a series of raids across five states in the country.

• Friday, June 24th 2016 - 09:03 UTC

  Brazil Lower House passes bill allowing foreigners 100% stake of national carriers

  

  Brazil's Chamber of Deputies approved this week an executive order allowing foreign investors 100% ownership of Brazilian airlines, compared to the current 20% limit, although the implementation depends on approval from the Senate.

• Friday, June 24th 2016 - 08:58 UTC

  Two presidents at opening of Rio Olympics in August

  

  Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's suspended president, will be invited to the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics on August 5, the organizing committee said Thursday. Rousseff has been replaced by vice-president Michel Temer pending her impeachment trial over allegations of fiddling government accounts.

• Friday, June 24th 2016 - 08:38 UTC

  Brazilian leading contractor, in plea bargain, expected to involve Rousseff directly in campaign illegal funding

  

  Marcelo Odebrecht, the former chief executive of Latin America’s largest construction company, will admit in a plea bargain testimony that he personally oversaw illegal campaign donations for suspended Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff in the 2010 and 2014 elections, Folha de São Paulo reported.

• Friday, June 24th 2016 - 08:28 UTC

  Colombia-FARC, “a historic event and exemplary implementation of peace”

  

  United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon attended in Cuba the signing of a bilateral ceasefire agreement and laying down of weapons between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) and described the historic event as an exemplary implementation of peace.

• Friday, June 24th 2016 - 08:07 UTC

  Vote Leave Chief and ex London mayor expected to go for PM Cameron post

  

  When Boris Johnson announced in February that he would back the UK campaign to Leave the European Union, it transformed the debate. Johnson is popular with the public and within his party. By becoming the official head of Vote Leave, he gave the weight of the establishment to a campaign previously spear-headed by fringe political figures such as Nigel Farage and George Galloway.

• Friday, June 24th 2016 - 07:43 UTC

  “Leave” win tremors: sterling falls; Bank of England on full alert; “EUexit” domino calls

  

  The UK has voted on Thursday, 23 June, to leave the European Union after 43 years in a historic referendum. Leave won by 51,9% to 48,1% with England and Wales voting strongly for Brexit, while London, Scotland and Northern Ireland backed staying in the EU.

• Friday, June 24th 2016 - 04:12 UTC

  Colombia signs historic cease fire to end half a century armed conflict

  

  An agreement aimed at ending more than five decades of conflict between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla group was signed in Havana on Thursday at a ceremony presided over by Cuban head of state Raul Castro.

• Friday, June 24th 2016 - 04:00 UTC

  Falklands are not recognized as a “people” and the principle of self determination does not apply, argues Malcorra

  

  With a less aggressive tone but with the same determination, Argentine foreign minister Susana Malcorra (and hopeful UN Secretary General), argued that the principle of self-determination is not absolute and does not apply to the disputed Falkland/Malvinas Islands, since the principle of territorial integrity of States prevails, and the inhabitants of the Malvinas are not recognized as a “people”.