Brazil’s far-right president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro, has reaffirmed his defense of his country’s brutal 21-year dictatorship and rejected claims that he is a fascist, instead painting himself as a Churchillian patriot determined to lead his crisis-stricken country “out of this quagmire”.

In one of his first television interviews since being elected on Sunday with nearly 58 million votes, the former paratrooper, who is notorious for his inflammatory rhetoric, did little to suggest he would temper his discourse after taking power on 1 January.

Bolsonaro told TV Band, one of Brazil’s major channels, it was his leftwing detractors who were fascists, not him. “They always accuse others of being what they are themselves,” he said. “It’s these leftwing people, who always put themselves above the rest, who are fascists.” The veteran politician, who paints himself as a political outsider, also refused to say he regretted saying the military regime that ruled Brazil from 1964 until 1985 should have killed 30,000 people. In a now infamous 1999 television interview Bolsonaro also said: “You’ll never change anything in this country through voting. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”(theguardian)…[+]

BRIDGETOWN- The Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) is taking steps towards improving the country’s solid waste management systems through a loan of USD672, 500 from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

Solid waste management has become an increasingly critical issue in the tourism-dependent territory as rapid growth in the tourism sector, population increase and changing consumption patterns have led to a corresponding increase in solid waste generation. Consequently, inadequate solid waste management has been identified as one of the key environmental threats facing TCI, an issue which the Technical Assistance project will help the country assess and address. Director of Projects at CDB, Daniel Best said the goal of the project is to create an environmentally sustainable system that can serve the country well into the future.

The loan will assist with the costs of consulting services to develop an integrated solid waste management strategy for the country and preparing a feasibility study of solid waste management options. It will also aid in creating detailed engineering and architectural designs for the preferred infrastructure options and developing a related programme of institutional strengthening and capacity-building. Independent Environmental and Social Impact Assessments for the proposed works will also be undertaken…[+]

Pressure is mounting on Sri Lanka’s president to allow parliament to decide between two men claiming to be the country’s lawful prime minister, amid warnings that the constitutional dispute could lead to a “bloodbath”.

President Maithripala Sirisena announced on live TV on Friday that Ranil Wickremesinghe, with whom he had governed in a fragile coalition since 2015, had been dismissed. In his place he has appointed the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. On Monday a cabinet minister was arrested and there were long queues outside petrol stations in the capital, Colombo, as the crisis entered its third day.

Wickremesinghe continued to occupy his official residence, and hundreds of supporters gathered outside, while Rajapaksa took control of the prime ministerial office and starting naming a cabinet. “At the moment there is a vacuum, no one is in full charge of the country,” Wickremesinghe said during a press conference at the residence.

Wickremesinghe argues he cannot legally be dismissed until he loses the support of parliament. His party, which holds a plurality of seats in the 225-member assembly, was prevented from holding a vote when Sirisena abruptly suspended parliament on Saturday until 16 November. Wickremesinghe said in a Facebook post on Monday he had obtained the signatures of 126 MPs calling for parliament to be returned immediately to end the political standoff.(theguardian)…[+]

LONDON-Big brands – from Coke to Kellogg – pledged today to cut all plastic waste from their operations in what the United Nations called the most ambitious effort yet to fight plastic pollution.

The initiative comes as public pressure mounts on manufacturers and retailers to pare back the deluge of plastic packaging that is clogging landfills and choking the seas.

“We know that cleaning up plastics from our beaches and oceans is vital, but this does not stop the tide of plastic entering the oceans each year. We need to move upstream to the source of the flow,” said Ellen MacArthur, the record-breaking British sailor who is behind the plastic initiative.

The pledge by 250 organisations included many of the world’s biggest packaging producers, leading consumer brands, retailers and recyclers, as well as governments and NGOs. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched its New Plastics Economy Global Commitment in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).(Thomson Reuters Foundation)…[+]