Politics

• Thursday, January 14th 2016 - 06:42 UTC

  Argentina targets 25% inflation and fiscal deficit of 4.8% of GDP this year

  

  Argentina Finance Minister Alfonso Prat Gay revealed on Wednesday that the fiscal deficit registered in 2015 was of 5.8% of GDP and 7.1% of GDP is all debts are computed, and complained that “there has been wasteful spending and when there is an expense it’s not well done.”

• Thursday, January 14th 2016 - 06:33 UTC

  Socialist becomes Spain's parliament speaker; no agreement yet on new government

  

  Spain's parliament held its first session Wednesday, with lawmakers from four main parties taking their seats at a time of political turmoil. Lawmakers picked a Socialist, Patxi Lopez, a former head of the regional government of the northern Basque Country, as parliamentary speaker, in the first pact between rival parties still engaged in talks to form a government since last month's inconclusive election.

• Thursday, January 14th 2016 - 06:24 UTC

  Gibraltar logged 431 Spanish vessels' incursions into territorial waters

  

  The number of unlawful incursions by Spanish state vessels into British Gibraltar territorial waters rose last year compared to 2014. But the number of serious incidents tailed off in the final months of 2015 against the context of diplomatic efforts to increase cooperation at sea, according to a report published in the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Thursday, January 14th 2016 - 06:01 UTC

  Riots in Sao Paulo as police disperses protestors over rising transport fares

  

  Sao Paulo police on Tuesday night fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters upset over rising transport fares, sparking memories of the 2013 street clashes in Brazil, this year's Olympic host. Riot cops wanted to prevent demonstrators from moving from the spot where they were gathered at one end of the city's major Paulista Avenue.

• Thursday, January 14th 2016 - 05:48 UTC

  Rio mayor confident the city has the funds to host the 2016 Olympic Games

  

  The mayor of 2016 Olympic host city Rio de Janeiro insisted authorities had the finances to avoid disruption to the summer Games despite Brazil’s recession. Latin America's largest economy is suffering from a deep recession and soaring inflation -- a contrast to the boom times of 2009, when Rio won the right to host the Olympics.

• Thursday, January 14th 2016 - 05:37 UTC

  Suspended FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke has been sacked

  

  “The FIFA Emergency Committee decided on 9 January 2016 to dismiss Jérôme Valcke from the position of FIFA secretary general with immediate effect. Jérôme Valcke is therefore no longer the secretary general of FIFA,” a FIFA statement said on Wednesday.

• Wednesday, January 13th 2016 - 07:59 UTC

  Former Petrobras manager states in plea-bargain that Lula was aware of the corruption scheme

  

  Former head of Petrobras' international sector Nestor Cervero has made a statement as part of his plea bargain, in which he says that Brazilian former president Lula a Silva gave him a job in 2008 as “recognition” for his help in repaying a R$12 million (US$3 million) loan considered fraudulent by police.

• Wednesday, January 13th 2016 - 07:46 UTC

  Venezuela's First Lady claims her two 'narco-nephews' were kidnapped by DEA

  

  Venezuela's first lady on Tuesday broke her silence on the arrest of her two nephews on drug trafficking charges, saying they were kidnapped by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.Cilia Flores, who serves in congress, told Venezuelan weekly Tal Cual that the U.S. was seeking revenge and trying to force the socialists from power in Venezuela.

• Wednesday, January 13th 2016 - 05:34 UTC

  Venezuela's 'super majority' power struggle paralyzes government

  

  Venezuela sank deeper into a messy political crisis Tuesday as the opposition-controlled National Assembly suspended its session after the Supreme Court declared it null and void. Speaking before a nearly empty chamber, speaker Henry Ramos Allup, a fierce opponent of President Nicolas Maduro, declared the National Assembly lacked a quorum and would reconvene Wednesday morning.

• Wednesday, January 13th 2016 - 05:24 UTC

  Obama's last State of the Union full of optimism strongly criticizing Trump with out mentioning him

  

  United States President Barack Obama promised that his final State of the Union address on Tuesday night would be something very different from the six that had preceded it. And, he made good on that promise, - abandoning the traditional list of policy proposals to instead make an extended case against the vision being offered by 2016 Republican front-runner Donald Trump.