Brazil's politicians are nearing an historic vote on whether to impeach embattled President Dilma Rousseff over allegations she lied to voters about the level of national debt during her re-election campaign.
The Senate will vote on the impeachment later today and a simple majority of the 81 senators will end 13 years of leadership by her left-leaning party.
If politicians vote in favour of impeachment, Ms Rousseff will be suspended from office and Vice President Michel Temer will take over for up to six months.
The vote was expected to take place on Wednesday evening, but the historic session has proceeded at a slow pace.
After nearly 12 hours, fewer than half the 70 senators slated to speak had made their addresses.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
US Invictus Winner Gives Medal To NHS Hospital
An American Invictus Games champion has asked Prince Harry to return her gold medal to the British hospital that saved her life.
Sergeant Elizabeth Marks requested Harry give the medal to the medical team at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, as he placed it around her neck.
Sgt Marks collapsed with a serious lung condition in 2014 on the eve of the first Invictus Games and was put into a medically induced coma.
She was treated in London by a team from Papworth, who put her on life support for 10 days after she suddenly became ill.
She said: "They absolutely saved my life and I can't thank the UK enough for having that kind of medical support and taking such good care of me.
"So I gave Prince Harry one of my medals and hope it will find its way back to Papworth."
Sgt Marks, who has won every swimming event she entered at this year's games in Orlando, decided to give her 100m freestyle gold to the hospital as it had been touched by the Prince.
Holding back tears, she said of the NHS staff who treated her: "Thank you, I'll never be able to repay you, but what you're doing is wonderful."
The combat medic was left with no sensation in her left leg after suffering a serious hip injury in 2010, but has returned to fitness and still serves in the military.
She described it as "an honour" to compete in the games alongside the other servicemen and women taking part.
Sgt Marks, who joined the US Army at 17, added: "I was nervous because of what had happened last time but I was eager to perform and show my team and show the other countries how much I love their support.
"When I came out of my coma to see all the pictures of them supporting me while I was there, without even knowing I was in that state, made me cry like a baby so it was a chance to give something back."
Prince Harry launched Invictus in 2014 as a means of using sport to support the rehabilitation and recovery of injured soldiers, and staged the inaugural games in London.
Instagram launches a new logo - a 'simpler camera'
Instagram is launching a new-look logo as it tries to move away from being seen purely as a photo app.
The updated icon is designed to reflect how "vibrant and diverse your storytelling has become", the company says.
"Inspired by the previous app icon, the new one represents a simpler camera and the rainbow lives on in gradient form."
More than 80 million photos and videos are now shared every day on Instagram.
It has 400 million users and overtook Twitter back in 2014.
Tesco CEO Gets £3m Bonus As Staff Share £185m
The chief executive of Tesco has been awarded an annual bonus of nearly £3m after Britain's biggest grocer moved back into profit after notching up the biggest loss in its history a year earlier.
Sky News has learnt that Tesco will disclose in its annual report - to be published on Friday - that Dave Lewis was handed a cash-and-shares bonus close to the maximum potential payout of £3.15m.
The award to its chief executive will be announced alongside a £185m bonus pot to be shared out among the company's 265,000 UK employees - equating to 5% of each worker's annual salary.
Sources said that Mr Lewis had been determined to fulfil a commitment he made in April to reward employees for delivering the beginning of a desperately needed turnaround.
The company - once a dominant force in British business - has endured a torrid few years, culminating in a £6.4bn loss in 2014, one of the biggest in UK corporate history.
A Serious Fraud Office inquiry into a vast overstatement of profits, launched soon after the departure of Mr Lewis's predecessor, Philip Clarke, remains ongoing.
Mr Lewis, a former Unilever executive, has begun to improve Tesco's performance, with the group showing a return to like-for-like sales growth in the fourth quarter of last year.
A source said on Wednesday that "the foundations had been laid" for a sustainable turnaround of the business, with net debt slashed by 40% after the sale of its operations in South Korea, improved cashflows and increased sales volumes.
The supermarket group's long-term share plans have failed to pay out for several years because of the company's weak performance, and City investors are said to be keen for Mr Lewis to be adequately incentivised to see the job through.
The Tesco chief earns a salary of £1.25m and can earn a maximum annual bonus worth 250% of that sum.
His bonus will therefore put him in line for a package for 2015 worth well over £4m.
Although Tesco is unlikely to face an investor revolt of the kind seen at many blue-chip companies' annual meetings this year, some shareholders may be surprised at the size of his bonus given that Tesco shares have fallen by a third during the last 12 months.
Mr Lewis has embarked upon a clearout of loss-making businesses, including Dobbies Garden Centres, Giraffe and Harris & Hoole, with Euphorium, a bakery business, set to be closed.
The move comes as part of a decision by Mr Lewis and senior colleagues to sell a string of under-performing or non-core businesses bought during an ill-fated acquisition spree over the last decade.
Many of the smaller businesses were bought by Mr Clarke, who had ambitions to diversify the retailer's appeal to customers and find ways of utilising excess space in its stores.
Mr Lewis now wants to offload businesses and brands which either dilute Tesco's margins or act as a distraction from its principal revival mission.
Mr Clarke's tenure ended in 2014 when he was sacked after a string of profit warnings.
The beginnings of a turnaround in Tesco's performance comes amid continuing competition with discounters Aldi and Lidl, and its more traditional rivals J Sainsbury, Wm Morrison and the struggling Asda.
Threat Of NI Terror Attack In Britain Raised
MI5 has raised the threat level to Great Britain from Northern Ireland-related terrorism from moderate to substantial.
Home Secretary Theresa May said the change means a terrorist attack is a strong possibility and reflects the continuing threat from dissident republican activity.
In a statement to the House of Commons, she said the Home Office was working closely with police and other relevant authorities to ensure appropriate security measures are in place to deal with the raised threat.
The threat level to the UK from international terrorism remains unchanged at severe - meaning an attack is highly likely.
Terror threat levels in the UK can be assessed as low, moderate, substantial, severe or critical - with critical meaning an attack is expected imminently.
The threat to the UK mainland from Northern Irish terrorism was last at substantial in 2011, before it was reduced to moderate in October 2012.
Sky News Senior Correspondent Ian Woods said: "The decision is made not by politicians but by intelligence staff, so even though it has been announced by the Home Secretary Theresa May, it is based on advice coming from the security service, MI5.
"International terrorism has been at severe for some years now, but Irish terrorism, for want of a better phrase, coming from Dissident Republican activity, has been downgraded because there has been very little of it."
In Northern Ireland - where the threat from home-grown terror has been severe since it was first published in September 2010 - there have been a number of warnings about increased activity from dissident republican groups.
In March, prison officer Adrian Ismay, 52, died 11 days after he was injured in a dissident republican bomb attack.
The Democratic Unionist Party said the announcement provided a "bleak reminder of evil in our midst".
The party's parliamentary home affairs spokesman Gavin Robinson said: "We know that nothing will be achieved through terrorism, yet with no purpose, principal or plan, there remain those intent on death and destruction.
"They will not win. Our resolve remains with those in the security services who keep us safe in Northern Ireland and across the Country each and every day."
Northern Ireland terror threat level raised in Great Britain
The threat level from Northern Ireland-related terrorism in Great Britain has gone up from moderate to substantial.
It means an attack in England, Scotland or Wales is "a strong possibility".
Home Secretary Theresa May said the level, set by security service MI5, "reflects the continuing threat from dissident republican activity".
The level for Northern Ireland-related terrorism in Northern Ireland remains "severe", meaning an attack is "highly likely".
Mrs May confirmed the change of threat level relating to Great Britain - meaning three of the four countries of the UK - in a written statement to Parliament.
She gave no further details of any intelligence had led to the level being changed.
"As a result of this change, we are working closely with the police and other relevant authorities to ensure appropriate security measures are in place," she wrote.
The public should "remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the police", she added.
At Easter the New IRA, the group responsible for the murder of prison officer Adrian Ismay in March, warned that its members were "determined to take the war to the age-old enemy of our nation".
The threat level for Northern Ireland-related terrorism in Great Britain was raised from moderate to substantial in 2010, then reduced back to moderate in 2012.
The threat level to the UK from international terrorism is currently set at severe. For this measure, Northern Ireland is not rated separately.
The top threat level is critical, which means an attack is "expected imminently".
Nigerian President: 'Yes' My Country Is Corrupt
The President of Nigeria has admitted to Sky News that his country is corrupt, after David Cameron was caught on camera making the same point.
Asked by Sky News Diplomatic Editor Dominic Waghorn whether his country was corrupt, he answered: "Yes."
Speaking in London at an anti-corruption event hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat, Muhammadu Buhari said he would not be expecting the Prime Minister to say sorry: "I am not going to demand any apology from anybody."
To cheers from Nigerian delegates in the audience, he added: "What would I do with an apology?"
Instead, he said Britain could be quicker to return assets allegedly wrongly brought to London: “I need something tangible," he said.
Others were no so forgiving.
"I am taken aback. I am not happy about it," said Senator Chukwuka Utazi, chairman of Nigeria’s senate committee on anti-corruption and financial crimes.
Senator Dino Melaye called the PM’s comments "reckless" and "demeaning".
His comments came ahead of him hosting an anti-corruption summit in London on Thursday.
Mr Buhari will also be attending, alongside Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
With the Archbishop of Canterbury alongside him, the PM told the Queen: "We have got the Nigerians - actually we have got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain."
He continued: "Nigeria and Afghanistan - possibly two of the most corrupt countries in the world."
It was not the only unguarded remark caught on camera this week.
The Queen was heard, also on Tuesday, describing Chinese officials as “very rude”.
Speaking on Wednesday at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Cameron seemed unconcerned about any diplomatic problems he might have caused.
Responding to an inquiry about Thursday’s summit, he tapped the microphone and said: “Well, first of all I’d better check the microphone’s on before speaking. It’s probably a good idea.”
Mr Buhari began an anti-corruption campaign when he took office a year ago.
The Afghan embassy told Sky News: "President Ghani and his government since in office have taken major steps to fight corruption.
"Countering corruption is a top priority along security issues for the National Unity Government.
"Therefore calling Afghanistan in that way ... is unfair."
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