Politics

• Saturday, June 20th 2015 - 08:59 UTC

  US Lower House approves controversial trade bill: Senate next hurdle

  

  The United States House of Representatives approved a controversial trade bill backed by President Obama, just a week after Democrats voted it down. The bill gives the president the right to negotiate global trade deals, with Congress only able to approve or reject a deal but not change it.

• Saturday, June 20th 2015 - 08:38 UTC

  Venezuelan lawmakers blast Brazilian senators' trip as 'abusive and meddling'

  

  Venezuela's ruling Socialist Party legislators reacted to a trip by Brazilian senators to visit jailed opponents of President Nicolas Maduro by describing it as “abusive” and “meddling”. The Brazilian delegation's visit on Thursday was cut short after their minibus was stoned by Maduro supporters and roads were blocked, forcing them to return to the airport and fly back the same day.

• Saturday, June 20th 2015 - 08:23 UTC

  Brazil's top two construction tycoons arrested in connection to Petrobras case

  

  Brazilian police arrested on Friday Marcelo Odebrecht, the head of Latin America's largest engineering and construction company Odebrecht SA, ensnaring the most high-profile executive to date in the corruption investigation at state-run oil firm Petrobras.

• Saturday, June 20th 2015 - 00:37 UTC

  Francis calls on swift global action to confront environmental degradation

  

  Argentine Pope Francis called on Thursday for a radical transformation of politics, economics and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change, blending a biting critique of consumerism and irresponsible development with a plea for swift and unified global action.

• Saturday, June 20th 2015 - 00:24 UTC

  Obama and Democrats support Pope's climate message, but Republicans dissented

  

  The Obama administration and congressional Democrats welcomed Pope Francis' call for sweeping action against climate change Thursday, but the pontiff's message was swiftly dismissed by GOP lawmakers.

• Saturday, June 20th 2015 - 00:14 UTC

  Argentine congress members in Paris investigating HSBC with whistleblowers

  

  Members of the Argentina's congressional bicameral commission investigating HSBC alleged illegal scheme to help Argentines evade taxes and siphon money out of the country, met in Paris with a group of French legislators and with UBS whistleblower Stéphanie Gibaud.

• Friday, June 19th 2015 - 23:51 UTC

  Fourteen Caribbean BOTs blacklisted by EU as world's worst tax havens

  

  Fourteen Caribbean countries are among 30 territories blacklisted by the European Union (EU) as the world’s worst tax havens. The list published by the EU on Wednesday includes Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis, and the British Overseas Territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

• Friday, June 19th 2015 - 23:45 UTC

  Ecuador's Correa suspends controversial death duties debate until after Pope's visit

  

  Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa announced he would temporarily withdraw two controversial tax bills from the legislature, saying he would give the public time to debate them. The bills, which would have raised taxes on inheritances and capital gains, generated uproar that led to mass street protests in recent days.

• Friday, June 19th 2015 - 23:36 UTC

  Venezuelan pickets stone and threaten visiting Brazilian senators

  

  Brazilian senators seeking on Thursday to visit jailed opposition leaders in Venezuela said their minibus was stoned and blocked, forcing them to return to the airport. The group of opposition senators had planned to drive from the coastal airport of Maiquetía to the capital Caracas and then on to a military jail where hard-line opposition leader Leopoldo López has been for more than a year.

• Friday, June 19th 2015 - 15:32 UTC

  Joint IAATO-Lloyd’s Register workshop to prepare for the Polar Code

  

  A dynamic, interactive and constructive workshop on how to tackle implementing the forthcoming International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s Polar Code has just concluded and fittingly, the workshop took place at London’s home of exploration, the Royal Geographical Society, Kensington.