Stories for August 2012

Monday, August 27th 2012 - 04:01 UTC
Merkel queen of the hill: strong support for stance on heavily indebted countries

Support for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives has nudged higher, an opinion poll showed, but the weakness of two smaller parties highlights the trouble she may face building another centre-right coalition after Germany's 2013 election.
Monday, August 27th 2012 - 03:54 UTC
UK/Ecuador defuse row, pledge commitment to diplomatic solution for Assange dispute

Britain said it remained committed to reaching a diplomatic solution to the presence of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Ecuador's London embassy, after both countries took steps to defuse a row over his action in taking refuge there.
Monday, August 27th 2012 - 03:46 UTC
EU calls Britain and Spain to cooperate on nature protection issues in Gibraltar waters

The European Commission has again urged Britain and Spain to cooperate on nature protection issues in Gibraltar waters, according to press reports in Spain. The reports cited anonymous Brussels officials saying the Commission had asked both countries to work to that end.
Friday, August 24th 2012 - 06:18 UTC
Paraguayan Senate defies Mercosur: votes against Venezuela’s incorporation

The Paraguayan Senate, at the heart of serious regional diplomatic dispute, voted by a solid majority against the incorporation of Venezuela as full member of Mercosur. Thirty one Senators rejected the Venezuelan Protocol of Adhesion, three supported it and eleven left the floor before the vote was taken.
Friday, August 24th 2012 - 06:14 UTC
YPF announces massive exploration program and calls on private investors

Argentina’s nationalized oil and gas corporation YPF announced it has plans to drill 250 wells in the next five years to further advance the country’s “hydrocarbons frontier”. During a presentation at a posh hotel in Buenos Aires under the heading of “Argentine Exploration Plan”, YPF CEO Miguel Galuccio called on investors to trust him and support the plan.
Friday, August 24th 2012 - 06:03 UTC
Argentina blasts the credit-risk agencies and warns of global “anarchy-capitalism”

Members from the Argentine government defended the “Kirchner inclusive development model” and blasted the credit-risk rating agencies while warning of the existence of a financial “anarchy-capitalism” which is suffocating the economies of the world.
Friday, August 24th 2012 - 05:49 UTC
Correa recalls the UK non extradition of Pinochet on “humanitarian reasons”

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said that Britain's failure to extradite former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet more than a decade ago means it has no right to lecture others over the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Friday, August 24th 2012 - 05:44 UTC
Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa sounds the bugle

By Sean Burges (*) Is Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa really saying that we cannot trust the judicial systems in Britain and Sweden? By granting Julian Assange asylum, he has implicitly stated the British judicial process is flawed and that Sweden is a slavish servant of the US government.
Friday, August 24th 2012 - 05:15 UTC
Colombia changes Finance minister but confirms open-economy business friendly policy

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos moved Energy Minister Mauricio Cardenas to head the finance post on Thursday in a surprise move. At the midpoint of his four-year term, Santos asked all 16 ministers to resign, including Finance Minister Juan Carlos Echeverry, and set the stage for a cabinet shuffle aimed at shoring up his slumping approval ratings.
Friday, August 24th 2012 - 05:10 UTC
Brazilian former Senator agrees to reimburse 234 million dollars of looted money

One of two senators in Brazil who were stripped of their positions for corruption will reimburse 234 million dollars in public funds he embezzled in the late 1990s, authorities said Thursday.