Stories for January 2015

Saturday, January 3rd 2015 - 06:42 UTC
Mujica's wife will run for mayor of Montevideo, Uruguay's main electoral base

Senator Lucia Topolansky, the wife of outgoing Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, will run for mayor of Montevideo in the May 2015 elections, representatives of the governing centre leftist Broad Front coalition announced this week.
Saturday, January 3rd 2015 - 06:32 UTC
Mujica defends Brazilian leadership in the region and called for strong unity

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica defended Brazil's leadership in helping Latin America carve a place and advance in the world context, but at the same time underlined that even when Brazil seems large to its neighbors, together with the rest of the countries, the region is still small in global terms.
Saturday, January 3rd 2015 - 06:11 UTC
Maduro and Biden shake hands and meet briefly at Rousseff's inauguration

On the sidelines of the inauguration of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff at the Planalto Palace seat of Brazil's Executive, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met briefly with Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro in a hand-shake facilitated by Uruguay President Jose Mujica.
Saturday, January 3rd 2015 - 06:07 UTC
Panama Canal planning major transshipment port on the Pacific entrance

The Panama Canal Board of Directors this week formally approved the development and construction of a transshipment port in Panama’s Corozal region. Upon completion, the port will have the capacity to handle more than five million TEUs within a 120-hectare area at the Canal’s entrance to the Pacific. The project is now awaiting the final step for approval from Panama’s National Assembly.
Saturday, January 3rd 2015 - 05:51 UTC
Battle of the Falkland Islands centennial commemorated with £2 coin issue

The Falkland Islands Government & Treasury have issued a new £2 coin which commemorates the Centennial of the Battle of the Falkland Islands. At the start of World War I in 1914, the Falkland Islands was an important strategic naval base that allowed crucial control of the British Royal Navy of the South Atlantic and the Magellan Strait connecting with the Pacific.
Saturday, January 3rd 2015 - 05:43 UTC
We have so much to learn from Cuba

By Robert F Kennedy Jr. (*) - In early December, President Barack Obama announced the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba after more than five decades of a misguided policy which my uncle, John F. Kennedy, and my father, Robert F. Kennedy, had been responsible for enforcing after the U.S. embargo against the country was first implemented in October 1960 by the Eisenhower administration.
Friday, January 2nd 2015 - 05:33 UTC
Pope calls for end to modern slavery and human trafficking in first 2015 Mass

In his first mass of 2015 Pope Francis has urged people of all religions and cultures to unite to fight modern slavery and human trafficking, saying that everyone had a God-given right to be free. The service at St. Peter's Basilica marks the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace. This year's theme is “No Longer Slaves, but Brothers and Sisters.”
Friday, January 2nd 2015 - 05:19 UTC
Venezuela takes its seat at the UN Security Council replacing Argentina

As of January first Venezuela is holding a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for two years (2015-2016). In such position, the government will have to take a stance on global issues, based on its “multi-center, pluri-polar world” approach.
Thursday, January 1st 2015 - 05:24 UTC
Rousseff begins second term promising economic recovery and anti-corruption crusade

Brazil’s President, Dilma Rousseff, 67, began her second term Thursday, January first vowing to rein in government spending to curb inflation and pull Latin America’s largest economy out of a four-year slump.