International

• Thursday, May 19th 2011 - 22:19 UTC

  England decides to abstain from voting for FIFA presidency

  

  England’s Football Association's board has decided to abstain in the vote for the presidency of Fifa. Sepp Blatter, the current head of football's world governing body, is being challenged by Qatari Mohamed Bin Hammam, the president of the Asian Football Confederation.

• Thursday, May 19th 2011 - 21:47 UTC

  Central banks in ‘gold rush’ to diversify reserves

  

  Mexico, Russia and Thailand added gold now valued at about 6 billion US dollars to their reserves in the first quarter of 2011 as metal prices advanced to a record, the dollar weakened and US Treasuries lost investors money.

• Thursday, May 19th 2011 - 17:28 UTC

  Japan falls into recession following March’s triple blow

  

  Japan's economy shrank much more than expected in the first quarter and slipped into recession after the triple blow of the March earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis hit business and consumer spending and tore apart supply chains.

• Thursday, May 19th 2011 - 17:23 UTC

  Spanish opposition anticipates “changes” in dealings with Gibraltar

  

  The Foreign Affairs spokesman for Spain’s conservative Popular Party, Gustavo de Arístegui, said that his party would continue to seek dialogue with Gibraltar if it wins national elections in Spain next year. But he also warned that “there will be changes” in Spain’s dealings with Gibraltar.

• Thursday, May 19th 2011 - 17:17 UTC

  After shock in Japan force Honda Brazil to cut 400 jobs and halve production

  

  Japanese car maker Honda Motor Co on Wednesday said it will leave redundant 400 workers and halve production at a factory in Brazil beginning next month because of a shortage of parts from earthquake-affected plants in Japan.

• Thursday, May 19th 2011 - 07:46 UTC

  Eurolat lawmakers call for freedom in Cuba and fair elections in Venezuela

  

  Lawmakers from the European Union and Latin America meeting in Uruguay approved two resolutions on the lack of freedoms in Cuba and on the coming electoral process in Venezuela.

• Thursday, May 19th 2011 - 07:36 UTC

  Strauss-Kahn resigns from IMF; defence lawyer presents new plea for bail

  

  International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned following allegations he sexually assaulted a hotel maid in New York. In a statement, Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, said he had already informed the executive board of his intention to step down “with immediate effect”.

• Thursday, May 19th 2011 - 07:08 UTC

  Argentine Jewish community wins an injunction against Google

  

  The umbrella organization of Argentina's Jewish community, DAIA, has won an injunction against Google, preventing the world's most popular search engine from “suggesting” anti-Semitic and racist websites to its users.

• Thursday, May 19th 2011 - 06:31 UTC

  Young Spaniards seeking jobs set up Egypt style protest in the heart of Madrid

  

  About 20,000 young people angry over high unemployment have spent the night camping in a famous square in Madrid as political protest grows. A big canvas roof was stretched across Puerta del Sol square, protesters brought mattresses and sleeping bags and volunteers distributed food.

• Wednesday, May 18th 2011 - 16:57 UTC

  European Parliament stresses ‘desirability’ of EU/Mercosur balanced trade agreement

  

  Current trade negotiations between the European Union and Mercosur dominated the opening speeches at of Eurolat (Europe/Latin America Parliaments) Fifth Plenary Session which is taking place in Montevideo.