Brasília, Brazil | AFP Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff risks being driven from office if the lower house votes in favor of an impeachment trial following Monday’s vote in a special committee. These are the main stages in the crisis, which comes on top of a deep recession in Latin America’s …
Read More »Brazil’s Rousseff: ex-guerrilla in epic impeachment battle
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | When she was being tortured under Brazil’s military dictatorship, Dilma Rousseff could never have imagined becoming the country’s first female president. But four decades on from those dark days in 1970, when Rousseff belonged to a violent Marxist underground group, she did indeed …
Read More »Terror suspect Abrini admits he was ‘man in hat’ at Brussels airport
Brussels, Belgium | AFP Paris attacks suspect Mohamed Abrini confessed Saturday to being “the man in the hat” caught on video with suicide bombers at Brussels airport last month, images that had sparked a massive manhunt. Abrini made the admission on the day he was charged with terrorist murders …
Read More »Venezuelans get Fridays off for two months to save energy
Caracas, Venezuela | AFP Venezuelan workers will get Fridays off for the next two months as part of an emergency plan to save electricity, the president said. Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves but its economy is a mess, with rampant inflation, shortages of goods as basic as …
Read More »Pope Francis to issue guide to love, sex and marriage
Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Francis will on Friday issue new guidelines on the Church’s approach to love, sex and marriage in what is being billed as one of the defining moments of his tenure. Is he gay-friendly and relaxed about divorce and cohabitation? Or is the pontiff a conservative …
Read More »Industry threatens nearly half of natural heritage sites: WWF
Paris, France | AFP Almost half of all natural World Heritage Sites, including the Great Barrier Reef and Machu Picchu, are threatened by industrial activities such as mining, oil exploration and illegal logging, conservation group WWF warned Wednesday. The 114 threatened sites, virtually half the total listed by UNESCO, provide …
Read More »Netanyahu looks to changing Africa for new Israeli allies
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP Four decades after his brother was killed during a rescue operation in Uganda, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is embarking on an African mission of his own — but with very different aims. Galvanised by a growing demand for Israeli security assistance and his government’s search …
Read More »War crimes judges drop charges in Kenya Ruto case
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP War crimes judges on Tuesday threw out charges of crimes against humanity against Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto over his alleged role in post-election bloodshed in 2007-2008, but left the door open to a possible new trial. In a fresh blow to the prosecution, the …
Read More »Scotland welcomed in London as new Commonwealth SG
New #Commonwealth Sec-Gen @PScotlandCSG welcomed by #Commonwealth community in #London: https://t.co/EAKcAEBdwD pic.twitter.com/RYqmZ4raA0 — The Commonwealth (@commonwealthsec) April 4, 2016 Patricia Scotland QC has outlined her priorities as Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations – including tackling violence against women. She highlighted tackling domestic violence as one of her top …
Read More »UN to provide nuclear security at Rio Olympics
Vienna, Austria | AFP | The UN atomic agency said Monday it will provide Brazil with equipment to help prevent any attempted terrorist attacks with nuclear material at this year’s Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games. The International Atomic Energy Agency said it will loan Brazil selected types of radiation detection …
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