Stories for August 2012

Tuesday, August 21st 2012 - 18:43 UTC
Paraguay Electoral Tribunal officially announces April 2013 general election

Paraguay officially announced holding elections on April 2013, when a new president and congress will be voted. The three branches of government attended the launching of the announcement that took place at the Superior Electoral Justice Tribunal on Tuesday, one day ahead of the OAS Permanent Council debate on “the Paraguayan situation”.
Tuesday, August 21st 2012 - 05:21 UTC
Ecuador ready for dialogue with UK, but with eyes on Friday’s OAS meeting

The Ecuadorean government reiterated on Monday that dialogue with UK on the Julian Assange case will continue once London officially “withdraws” the original message with threats. Quito also is hopeful that the coming OAS extraordinary meeting will ratify full support for Ecuador as has happened with other regional organizations.
Tuesday, August 21st 2012 - 04:27 UTC
Brazil’s federal staff several months strike extends to the highways police

The Brazilian highways patrol police in several states joined the national strike of federal workers that are protesting for higher salaries and better working conditions. The strike of the National Federation of Highway Police (Fenapre) was decided unanimously over the weekend effective Monday.
Tuesday, August 21st 2012 - 02:56 UTC
Argentina hosted 5.7m tourists in 2011; iconic names play a significant role

Argentina has become the most visited country in South America with arrivals in 2011 reaching almost six million tourists, said Leonardo Boto head of the country’s National Tourism Promotion Institute, Improtur.
Tuesday, August 21st 2012 - 02:25 UTC
US Court rejects Argentina sovereign immunity argument; banks must show documents

Argentina lost a bid on Monday to prevent bondholders from obtaining documents from two banks about the country's assets outside the United States. A three judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said in an opinion that the Argentine government could not prevent a lower court's order forcing the banks to produce the documents.
Tuesday, August 21st 2012 - 02:02 UTC
US accuses Assange of “wild assertions” and Ecuador of “sideshow” at OAS

The Obama administration on Monday accused WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of making “wild assertions” about US persecution to deflect attention from sex allegations he faces questioning for in Sweden.
Tuesday, August 21st 2012 - 01:57 UTC
Re-re-election of Cristina Fernandez fully integrated to the political agenda of Argentina

Several groups allied to Argentine president Cristina Fernandez are actively promoting a constitutional review that would allow re-election for a third consecutive four year mandate. The last Argentine constitutional review was in 1994 when the four-year mandate was introduced with the possibility of an only immediate re-election, thus modifying the six year mandate but with no re-election.
Monday, August 20th 2012 - 22:30 UTC
Ecuadoreans march in support of President Correa and Assange

Hundreds of Ecuadoreans marched on Monday in support of the government's decision to grant asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a saga that could help President Rafael Correa if he seeks re-election.
Monday, August 20th 2012 - 22:28 UTC
Fears of resumption of clashes with Spain over net fishing in Gibraltar bay

Spanish fishermen expressed perplexity at the announcement by the Gibraltar Government that it will not be granting permission for commercial fishing with nets to be carried out in Gibraltar waters. The controversy has caused several incidents in the bay between the Spanish Guardia Civil and Gibraltar Royal Police and there are fears of a resumption of the conflict.
Monday, August 20th 2012 - 21:14 UTC
Insufficient harvests and soaring prices anticipate another world food crisis

With droughts parching farms in the United States and near the Black Sea, weak monsoon rains in India and persistent hunger in Africa's Sahel region, the world could be headed towards another food crisis, experts say.