Politics

Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 07:54 UTC
Despite papal blessings, Brazil further cuts spending and growth forecast

Brazil is cutting spending for the second time in two months to help meet its fiscal target as it forecasts slower growth this year which was also confirmed according to the latest Central Bank survey. The economic data was announced while Brazil had its eyes and ears in Rio do Janeiro to receive Pope Francis.
Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 07:48 UTC
Violent protests against Rio do Janeiro governor following Pope’s reception

Rio de Janeiro was the stage for violent protests centred at Palacio Guanabara where earlier in the day Pope Francis had been received by Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. The incidents occurred Monday night during a demonstration against Rio state governor Sergio Cabral which convened an estimated 1.500 people according to the police.
Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 07:39 UTC
Mujica praises the OAS and the report on the drug problem in the Americas

The Organization of American States (OAS), Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, presented on Monday Uruguayan president José Mujica the Report on the Drug Problem in the Americas, prepared by the hemispheric institution following a mandate of the Sixth Summit of the Americas.
Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 07:33 UTC
China interested in developing agriculture in Venezuela’s 30 million hectares of land

Venezuelan Vice-president Jorge Arreaza said that cooperation between China and Venezuela, which has been especially strong and beneficial in energy and technology, could be extended to include agriculture and land exploitation, an area of special interest for Beijing.
Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 07:29 UTC
EU puts Hezbollah in terrorism blacklist; Lebanon fears impact in local politics

The European Union agreed on Monday to put the armed wing of Hezbollah on its terrorism blacklist, a move driven by concerns over the Lebanese militant group's roles in a bus bombing in Bulgaria and the Syrian war.
Monday, July 22nd 2013 - 21:01 UTC
PM Cameron reassures Gibraltar “no compromise on sovereignty”, following shooting incident

British Prime Minister David Cameron has told Chief Minister Fabian Picardo that Britain “will not compromise on sovereignty” in the face of Spanish incursions into British Gibraltar territorial waters.
Monday, July 22nd 2013 - 20:36 UTC
Pope warns of an entire generation of jobless young people, before arriving in Rio

Pope Francis warned Monday that the world risks having an entire generation of jobless young people as he arrived to Brazil. The 76-year-old Argentine, speaking to journalists aboard the papal plane heading to the Catholic youth event in Rio de Janeiro, said his trip aimed in part “to encourage young people to integrate into society” and convince the world not to abandon them.
Monday, July 22nd 2013 - 20:23 UTC
Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to a boy; third in the line of succession

The Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to a baby boy, Kensington Palace has announced. The baby was delivered at 16:24 BST at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, west London, weighing 8lb 6oz.
Monday, July 22nd 2013 - 06:54 UTC
Francis, champion of the poor arrives at a restive and Catholic faith losing Brazil

Pope Francis is due in Brazil Monday on his first foreign trip as pontiff to attend an international youth festival in the world's biggest Catholic country.
Monday, July 22nd 2013 - 06:50 UTC
The good pastor will put in practice ‘the new way of interacting with the world’

Pope Francis’s response to the challenges of the Catholic Church has been to help find “an entirely new way to interact with the world” by the manner in which he communicates, said Sao Paulo Cardinal Odilo Scherer, one of two Latin Americans named to the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization created in 2010.