International
President Lula presented a group of actions to ensure the rights of Brazilian women

March 8th |
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva presented a package of actions to ensure the rights of Brazilian women, on the occasion of today’s International Women’s Day.
The Minister of Women, Cida Gonçalves, also participated in the announcements and among the measures disclosed is the sending to the National Congress of a bill that seeks to guarantee the payment by the employer of equal salaries for men and women who exercise the same function.
“When we accept that women earn less than men in the same job, we perpetuate a historical violence against women,” said Lula.
He specified that “the project has only one word that makes the difference, one single word. That magic word is called obligatory payment”, he remarked.
He warned that there will be many people who “do not want to pay (equal salaries), but for that the justice system will have to work”.
The above, she continued, in order to force “the employer who does not want to pay what the woman deserves for her work capacity”.
This point is foreseen in the current legislation and, according to the Government, the text foresees measures to make companies more transparent and to strengthen the control and fight against wage discrimination.
The announcement was made at the Planalto Palace, seat of the Executive Power, in the presence of the First Lady, Janja Lula da Silva, government ministers and representatives of public banks.
The founder of the Workers’ Party also defended that the process to equalize rights be accelerated and, if it depended on the government, inequality would end “by a simple decree of the president”.
For Lula, “women played a leading role in several key moments of our recent history: redemocratization, amnesty, Directas Ya and the Constituent Assembly”.
He insisted that “respect for women is a non-negotiable value in all spheres of the Federal Executive. We have 11 women at the head of ministries, but all the ministries and each member of this government is co-responsible for policies and actions aimed at women”, she emphasized.
Gonçalves, for her part, pointed out that the government decided to mark March 8 with public policies to confront violence against women and promote gender equality, economic autonomy and women’s integral health.
The fight against the various forms of violence is a priority in Brazil on International Women’s Day.
According to the Elas Viver report, published by the Network of Security Observatories, the South American giant recorded 2,423 cases of violence against women in 2022, among them 495 resulted in femicides, which translated into one aggression every four hours and one murder per day.
International
Merengue concert turns to mourning as Jet Set collapse claims 136 lives

Dominican rescue teams will end search and recovery operations on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at the Jet Set nightclubin Santo Domingo, where the building collapsed during a live concert.
Authorities estimate that the final 20 bodies will be recovered from the rubble today, bringing the official death toll to 136. This includes 12 additional bodies found overnight in the disaster zone, adding to the previously confirmed 124 fatalities.
Outside the collapsed nightclub, desperate relatives of the missing continue to gather, clinging to hope for news. Many also visited nearby hospitals and morgues in search of their loved ones.
A list of confirmed victims has been posted on a tent set up near the site, where the bodies are being transferred for identification.
The tragedy occurred during a performance by renowned merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among the deceased.
Central America
Colombia to host fourth EU-CELAC Summit in November

The Fourth Summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) will take place on November 9 and 10 in Santa Marta, Colombia, according to a joint statement released Wednesday by the Colombian government and the European Council.
The summit will be co-chaired by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in his role as pro tempore president of CELAC, and European Council President António Costa, the statement added.
The last EU-CELAC summit took place in July 2023 in Brussels, when both blocs agreed to hold these meetings every two years.
The summit brings together the 27 EU member states and the 33 CELAC countries, representing 14% of the global population, 21% of global GDP, and one-third of the members of the United Nations, the communiqué noted.
International
Russia and US to Meet in Istanbul for Diplomatic Talks on April 10

The Kremlin confirmed today a forthcoming meeting with the United States to discuss the normalization of diplomatic relations, which will take place in Istanbul.
“Our participation will be through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Dmitry Peskov, the presidential spokesperson, during his daily telephone press conference.
Peskov was responding to a question about who would represent Russia in the new round of negotiations, which is supposedly scheduled for April 10.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the delegations will be led by the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Alexandr Darchiev, and the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Sonata Coulter.
These are the same negotiators who met in late February in Istanbul, where the expert-level negotiation format was the same, according to the source.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had said a few days ago that the next meeting would be held in the Turkish city, though he did not confirm a date.
Lavrov, who participated in only one of these meetings, clarified that the upcoming discussions would address the issues still dividing Moscow and Washington diplomatically, referring to the operations of both countries’ embassies.
The Kremlin asserted that Washington has not yet responded to Russia’s security concerns, preventing a ceasefire declaration on land, sea, and air.
Meanwhile, Trump expressed discontent with Russia’s recent attacks, including one last week that killed 20 people in Krivi Rig, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
So far, Russia has rejected a cessation of hostilities and only declared a 30-day ceasefire on March 18 against attacks on energy infrastructure, which was extended by Kyiv a week later.
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