Briefs | Brazil – Governing party treasurer arrested in kickback case

Workers’ Party’s Treasurer Joao Vaccari

Federal police on Wednesday (yesterday in Macau) detained the treasurer of Brazil’s governing Workers’ Party in the wide-ranging investigation into corruption at state-run oil giant Petrobras, and the party said later he had asked to resign the post. Joao Vaccari Neto was detained in Sao Paulo as he was heading out for an early morning jog, police and judicial officials told reporters at a news conference in the southern city of Curitiba, where the investigation is being led. An arrest warrant also was issued for Vaccari’s sister-in-law and his wife was questioned in connection with a series of unidentified deposits in her account that investigators suspect might be related to the kickback scheme at Petrobras. Vaccari has maintained his innocence, telling a congressional panel last week that all the donations made to his party during last year’s campaign were perfectly legal. His lawyer could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Workers’ Party President Rui Falcao said in a statement posted on the party’s website that “for practical and legal matters Vaccari asked to step down as the party’s treasurer.”

Migration | EU struggles to confront challenge of Mediterranean asylum seekers

A rescued migrant holds a Forensic Police Regional Cabinet number after disembarking from an Italian Coast Guard ship in Palermo, Sicily

European Union nations are struggling to confront the challenge of the unprecedented numbers of migrants coming across the Mediterranean and have few answers to contain the humanitarian catastrophe highlighted by reports that 400 people drowned this week. Driven chiefly by poverty and conflict, some 10,000 migrants and asylum seekers have sought to sneak into the EU over just the past week and the European nations have no clear response ready. The spring crossing season will inflate those figures over the weeks to come, yet there are no emergency EU meetings planned or proposals ready to be implemented. The EU’s top migration official, Dimitris Avramopoulos, warned this week that these tragic scenes are “unfortunately the new norm and we will need to adjust our responses accordingly.”