Stories for December 2009

Monday, December 14th 2009 - 08:49 UTC
Miss Gibraltar defeats 111 hopefuls to become Miss World 2009

Gibraltar's Kaiane Aldorino claimed the title of Miss World 2009 on Saturday, defeating 111 other hopefuls at a glittering ceremony in South Africa.
Saturday, December 12th 2009 - 15:32 UTC
Uruguay tells Stora Enso: no new pulp mills next to Botnia

Uruguayan president elect Jose Mujica said Friday that Finland’s Stora Enso will not be constructing a pulp mill along the border with Argentina close to where another mill, Botnia is already functioning and has led to an ongoing conflict with the neighbouring country.
Saturday, December 12th 2009 - 15:28 UTC
Honduras ousted Zelaya to meet President elect Lobo in Dominican Republic

Honduras president elect Porfirio Lobo and ousted leader Manuel Zelaya agreed to meet in the coming days in the Dominican Republic to begin a “political dialogue” which will help the country solve the current political crisis, announced Dominican president Leonel Fernández.
Saturday, December 12th 2009 - 15:22 UTC
Australia threatens Japan with international legal action over whaling

Australia has threatened international legal action after the new Japanese Government declared there would be no change to its stance on whaling. Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said in Tokyo that he saw no need for a review of the Government's policy, disappointing those who thought it might break with the past.
Saturday, December 12th 2009 - 15:11 UTC
Arctic climate change forcing Eskimos to build deep freezers to store game

Inuit communities (Eskimos) need funds to adapt to climate change in the Arctic, including measures to build communal deep freezers to store game because warming is reducing their hunting season, an Inuit leader said on Friday.
Saturday, December 12th 2009 - 14:57 UTC
Four Korean fishing vessels burnt and lost in Montevideo in two months

Between forty and fifty Asian crewmembers from two Korean flagged fishing vessels that caught fire Thursday night while docked in Montevideo, are being questioned by Uruguayan judicial authorities.
Saturday, December 12th 2009 - 14:52 UTC
The “blond angel of death” on trial in Buenos Aires

A former Argentine navy captain has gone on trial in Buenos Aires for his alleged involvement in the disappearance and torture of dissidents during the country's 1976 to 1983 military dictatorship.
Saturday, December 12th 2009 - 14:44 UTC
Falklands’ oil deal with Chile much depends on Sunday’s election

Chile’s opposition presidential candidate Sebastián Piñera is open to discuss the proposal from Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd, FOGL, for Chile’s national oil corporation to explore for oil in Falkland Islands waters, if he wins the elections next Sunday or in the January run off, according to Lower House member Marcelo Forni.
Saturday, December 12th 2009 - 09:21 UTC
Drastic budget cuts anticipated for UK Ministry of Defence

The British Ministry of Defence is facing hundreds of millions of pounds in cuts - including the closure of at least one RAF base - as it struggles to balance its books, it was reported.
Saturday, December 12th 2009 - 07:52 UTC
Regional left-leaning trend challenged by Chilean Sunday presidential election

No one is going to win an outright majority in Chile’s first round presidential election on December 13 and a January 17 run-off between the conservative millionaire, Sebastian Piñera, and the former Christian Democrat President, Eduardo Frei, looks likely.