Search Results for: finance

President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva signed Monday a request for the country’s Congress to recognize a state of public calamity in Rio Grande do Sul, a region in the south of Brazil, until December 31, 2024, amid massive floods that have caused considerable damage. The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday accused Kenya’s government of not proactively addressing nationwide flash floods. The rights group called upon the state to fulfill its obligation to safeguard vulnerable groups, including children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and those residing in high-risk areas, from the adverse impacts of the ongoing floods. Citing evidence from [...]

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced a staff-level agreement with Mali on Tuesday, providing emergency funds to address food insecurity in the central and northern regions of Mali. The agreement follows extensive discussions between IMF officials and Malian authorities in Washington DC, as well as a visit by IMF economists to Bamako, Mali’s capital, earlier [...]

The spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General made a call to Haitian authorities to “expedite the full implementation of the transitional governance arrangements” following the official installation of a Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) and the official resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry on Thursday. The establishment of the TPC comes as a response to rampant gang [...]

Recent Afrobarometer survey data (Round 8, 2019-2021) paints a stark picture with 86% of Kenyans and 93% of Ghanaians expressing intolerance towards the LGBT community. This high level of intolerance exists despite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guaranteeing non-discrimination based on sexual orientation. Furthermore, across Africa, laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual activity remain commonplace. [...]

Ecuadorians voted to approve a number of security proposals from President Daniel Noboa on Sunday as the South American country experiences a surge in violence that has claimed the lives of multiple public officials, including a presidential candidate. Among the proposals was a proposition to amend Ecuador’s constitution to allow the country’s armed forces to [...]

The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office arrested three citizens on suspicion of working for the Chinese secret services to transfer technology with potential military applications on Monday. Officers of the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) in Düsseldorf and Bad Homburg arrested German citizens Gerwig F., Ina F. and Thomas R. (surnames withheld due to privacy concerns) [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled against former Republican campaign consultant Jesse R. Benton on Friday, upholding Benton’s conviction for allegedly funneling $100,000 in campaign donations from a Russian businessman to his consulting firm. Of the $100,000, Benton was convicted of keeping $75,000 of the donation for himself and giving the [...]

Scottish police charged Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party (SNP), on Thursday in connection with the alleged embezzlement of funds from the SNP. Murrell is also the husband of former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon. A report on the matter will now be sent to the to the Crown Office and Procurator [...]

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC) announced on Tuesday that it had reached a tentative settlement of $600 million in a class action lawsuit regarding the February 2023 freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. According to the NSC news release, the settlement “is designed to provide finality and flexibility for the class members.” Class members would [...]