The United States withdrew all diplomatic staff from Venezuela last week due to the “deteriorating situation” there, the State Department has said. The United States ordered all non-essential staff to leave Venezuela in January amid on ongoing diplomatic crisis. Desperation in Venezuela grows, as a widespread power outage and a worsening humanitarian crisis have sparked mass protests. Much of Venezuela has been caused by problems at the Guri hydroelectric plant in Bolivar state which is on of the largest facilities in Latin America. Venezuela depends on its vast hydroelectric infrastructure, rather than its oil reserves, for its domestic electricity supply. Decades of under investment have damaged the major dams, and sporadic blackouts are common. As Brazilians vote for a new president, senators and deputies, one issue in particular might determine their choice, violent crime. Many of the political candidates have promised in their campaigns to address the issue. Environmentalist and candidate Marina Silva has highlighted violence against women in 2017, Brazil registered more than 60,000 cases of rape, but experts say the true figure could be higher. There were over 60,000 killings in the country in 2017. The national murder rate has gone up to 30.8 killings per 100,000 people last year. Data from the IPEA in 2016 revealed that most f the victims were aged between 15 and 29. The rate in 2016 among black Brazilians was more than double that of other racial groups. Over the past decade the murder rate in the state of Rio Grande do Norte has soared by more than 250%. Boeing has grounded its entire global fleet of 737 Max aircraft after investigators uncovered new evidence at the scene of the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash. The US-plane maker suspended all 371 of the aircraft. The crash last week in Addis Ababa killed 157 people. Making that crash the second fatal Max 8 disaster in 5 months, after one crash in Indonesia in October, taking 189 lives. Pilots in the United States had complained last year about problems controlling the Boeing 737 Max 8 during take-off. After the Lion Air crash, Boeing issued a bulletin on what to do regarding erroneous readings from the sensor, which sends out information about what angle a plane is flying at.
