Stories for 2009

Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 13:57 UTC
Russian cruise vessel breaks free of the ice and heads for Ushuaia

An expedition vessel with 184 passengers and crew onboard -- including 51 British guests and a BBC film crew-- is on the move again after being wedged in the ice of Antarctica's Weddell Sea since Friday.
Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 13:53 UTC
Falklands’ cruise season with 33 different vessels and 215 calls

Thirty-three different cruise vessels are scheduled to visit a total of around 215 Falkland Islands destinations in the coming season.
Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 13:33 UTC
Praise for the British press for exposing MP’s expenses scandal

The head of Britain’s Press Complaints Commission has praised the exposure of Members of Parliament expenses claims - and said it showed the vital need to retain press freedom to investigate our “dysfunctional democracy”.
Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 09:30 UTC
Venezuelan economy forecasted to contract strongly in 2009

Venezuela's economy contracted 4.5% in the third quarter, far more than expected, and the second straight quarterly contraction this year after a drop in oil income affected public and consumer spending, the Central Bank said Tuesday.
Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 09:28 UTC
Chile in select group of eleven countries with insignificant mad-cow risk

Beginning Tuesday Chile belongs to the select group of eleven countries who have insignificant risk of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. This places Chile among the nations with the best sanitary conditions on the planet.
Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 08:23 UTC
Official media invites Cubans to open their minds and “disagree”

The Cuban Official ruling Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma called on Cubans to open their minds and “disagree”, adding that it was “erroneous to coincide with all opinions” in a community that has been forged on the basis of “commitment and consensus”.
Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 08:14 UTC
Argentina protests world-map circulating in Bolivia with the Malvinas as British

The Argentine embassy in Bolivia officially protested, and demanded the immediate withdrawal of a National Geographic world-map circulating among the Bolivian Chamber of Customs agents and where the Malvinas Islands figure “with a colour different to that identifying Argentina”.
Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 08:10 UTC
Cyber-war is here and to stay: ask US, China, Russia, Israel and France

Major countries and nation-states are engaged in a “Cyber Cold War,” amassing cyber-weapons, conducting espionage, and testing networks in preparation for using the Internet to conduct war, according to a new report released by McAfee.
Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 07:24 UTC
Che Guevara, “the worst that could have happened to Cuba” says Juanita Castro

The presence of Ernesto Che Guevara in Cuba was “the worst that could have happened to my country” said Juanita Castro, sister of the ruling brothers of Cuba, (Fidel and Raúl Castro) and fellow fighters with the Argentine-born doctor in the Caribbean island revolution half a century ago
Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 07:23 UTC
Influential US Congress members call for an end to Cuba travel ban

Two key United States lawmakers say that Washington should allow its citizens to travel to Cuba to help promote 'democratic reforms' in that country. Veteran Republican Senator Richard Lugar and Democratic Congressman Howard Berman insist that the Cuba travel ban has been obsolete and should be discarded as a foreign policy measure.