Headlines

Cunha spearheaded impeachment proceedings against former President Rousseff   

São Paulo, Oct.20.─ Eduardo Cunha, Brazil’s former House speaker who spearheaded the impeachment proceedings that toppled former President Dilma Rousseff, was arrested Wednesday in connection with a sprawling corruption scandal centered on the nation’s state-run oil company.

Mr. Cunha, 58 years old, was indicted earlier this year on charges of corruption and money laundering. Prosecutors alleged that he pocketed millions in bribes from a company seeking contracts with oil firm Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras.

The time has come to widen our political and intellectual horizons, writes Muxe Nkondo 

Johannesburg, Oct.17.─ Both participatory democracy and professional expertise are defining values of South African society. Although many social scientists have tried to understand the two as mutually supportive, the tension between participatory democracy and professional expertise has long been a critical theme in South African politics.

Whereas participatory democracy stands for transparent and inclusive deliberation on the part of all citizens, professional expertise has always been regarded as the exclusive domain of professional elites. Whereas participatory democracy seeks to canvass a wide range of perspectives on a given topic, professional expertise strives to limit the number of participants in pursuit of facts and truth.

• Former Portuguese PM Antonio Guterres was elected UN Secretary General - He is considered friendly to Israel and was close to Peres
• Guterres is a a vocal advocate for refugees  

United Nations, Oct.7.─ Incoming United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been and will always be a friend of Israel, former Israeli officials who have met with him told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

Guterres came to Israel in 1993 as secretary-general of the Portuguese Socialist Party and leader of Portugal’s opposition.

• Voters reject deal to end 52-year FARC rebel war
• Santos and Uribe meet to revive peace deal ─ President and former head of state set out initial proposals to get rejected accord back on track   

Bogota, Oct.3.─ Colombians narrowly rejected a peace deal with Marxist guerrillas in a referendum on Sunday, plunging the nation into uncertainty and dashing President Juan Manuel Santos' painstakingly negotiated plan to end the 52-year war.

The surprise victory for the "no" camp poured cold water on international joy, from the White House to the Vatican, at what had seemed to be the end of the longest-running conflict in the Americas.