Stories for June 2nd 2009
Black Thursday anticipated for Labour and several cabinet members
British cabinet member Jacqui Smith is to stand down as home secretary in the cabinet reshuffle, sources close to her have told the BBC. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is set to shake up his cabinet after Thursday's European and English local elections.
Land-based tourism worth £3.2 million a year to the Falkland Islands
According to the Falkland Islands Tourist Board, overnight visitors spent an estimated £3.2 million in the Falkland Islands in 2008.
Hunt for Air France jet intensifies
Rescuers are searching waters deep in the Atlantic for a French airliner which disappeared in a storm early on Monday. The search, involving ships and planes from many nations, was part-suspended overnight, but aircraft with monitoring equipment continued to scour the sea.
Paraguayan president, tenth Latam leader to visit Cuba this year
Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo is scheduled to arrive in Havana on Tuesday for a two-day visit to Cuba, making him the tenth Latinamerican leader, so far this year, to meet with Cuban president Raul Castro and possibly his ailing brother Fidel.
Nestor Kirchner leads in polls for mid term election, but could not be enough
Former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner who is running for a seat in the Lower House in this month’s mid term elections is ahead in all public opinion polls, although closely followed by the main opposition candidate Francisco de Narvaez.
Argentine industrial union wants to block Venezuela from Mercosur
The powerful Argentine Industrial Union, UIA, has called on its Mercosur peers to impede Venezuela’s incorporation to Mercosur in reprisal for the nationalization spree launched by President Hugo Chavez.
Brazilian public opinion split on Lula da Silva’s re-re-election
Brazilian public opinion is split almost equally on the re-election of President Lula da Silva for a second period, according to the latest poll published in Sao Paulo. Lula da Silva one of Brazil’s most popular leaders in decades has a support of 69% but a constitutional reform is needed if he is to run again in 2010.
OAS Cuba’s sanctions could be lifted Tuesday in Honduras
The Organization of American States, OAS, secretary general Jose Miguel Insulza said he was optimistic that an agreement to lift the suspension on Cuba can be reached at the 39th general assembly which officially begins Tuesday in Honduras.
Chrysler taken over by Fiat with US, Canada governments’ support
United States car group Chrysler has secured court approval for a consortium led by Italy's Fiat to take over its assets. The move, which is backed by both the US and Canadian governments, should enable Chrysler to exit bankruptcy protection in the near future.
Cisco and Travelers to replace Citi and GM in Dow Jones average
Shock waves of the financial crisis and its impact on the real economy have reached the United States Dow Jones Industrial Average which announced Monday the replacing of two iconic shares from its thirty blue chips index, announced Dow Jones & Company.
