Stories for November 24th 2009

Wednesday, November 25th 2009 - 06:00 UTC
On the 150th anniversary of “On the origin of species”, Darwin’s missing notebook

Charles Darwin's encounter with the first of the two creatures that would provide him with the early clues for his theory of evolution was not a dramatic one. “Met an immense Turpin; took little notice of me,” the 26-year-old jotted in his notebook in 1835.
Wednesday, November 25th 2009 - 05:41 UTC
Peru proposes a South American “peace force” to contain regional conflicts

Peru will propose the creation of a South American “Peace Force” next Friday in Ecuador when the meeting of the Union of South American Nations Defence Council, announced Peruvian Production minister Mercedes Araoz following a meeting in Montevideo with Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez.
Wednesday, November 25th 2009 - 05:06 UTC
Bank of England emergency loans at height of crisis peaked £ 61.6 billion

Emergency loans to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HBOS peaked at £61.6 billion at the height of the financial crisis, the Bank of England has said. The Bank revealed for the first time the details of its Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) to both banks in a submission to the Treasury Select Committee.
Wednesday, November 25th 2009 - 04:42 UTC
Colombia/Ecuador re-establish trade relations after 21 months

Ecuador and Colombia formally established this week ties at trade representation level, official sources said in Quito and Bogotá. The two governments announced that “full normalization” will take place when the so called “sensitive” issues have been addressed and solved.
Wednesday, November 25th 2009 - 04:37 UTC
Brazil plans to export 168 billion USD in 2010

Brazil targets exports of 168 billion US dollars for 2010 (compared to 160 billion USD in 2009) announced Deputy Trade Minister Welber Barral during the opening of a foreign commerce forum in Rio do Janeiro.
Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 13:16 UTC
Disenchantment factor ahead of next Sunday’s Uruguayan presidential runoff

With less than a week for Sunday’s runoff when Uruguay’s next president will be definitively elected, public opinion polls show support for both candidates “frozen” with a significant percentage undecided or with the intention of voting blank or spoiling their vote.
Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 13:12 UTC
Argentina defends the right of the Palestine people to have a State

Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner defended the right of the Palestinian State to “have its own frontiers” in a lunch shared with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, at the Government House.
Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 13:11 UTC
Baroness Thatcher returns to Downing Street

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher moved back into Downing Street, in the shape of a portrait by royal artist Richard Stone. Nicholas Glass reports. The unveiling had been delayed several times due to the ailing health of Baroness Thatcher, 84, who attended Monday the private reception.
Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 13:06 UTC
Capital inflows in Brazil cause unease; G20 considers regulations

Brazil does not rule out new steps to slow gains in its currency, the Real, even as the government evaluates the impact of a recently imposed tax on capital inflows, Secretary of Economic Policy Nelson Barbosa said in an interview on Monday.
Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 13:03 UTC
Family of de Menezes reaches compensation agreement with London police

The family of Brazilian citizen Jean Charles de Menezes has agreed a compensation deal with the London Metropolitan Police. Relatives of the Brazilian have been locked in an often acrimonious legal battle with the force since he was shot dead at Stockwell Tube station on July 22, 2005.