International

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 - 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 - 03:02 UTC
Unfriend, with real lex-appeal, word of the year for Oxford American Dictionary

Unfriend“ has been named the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary, chosen from a list of finalists with high technical jargon. Unfriend was defined as a verb that means to remove someone as a ”friend” on a social networking site such as Facebook or MySpace.
Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 02:38 UTC
Chile and Uruguay, least corrupt in Latam and an inspiration for the region

Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica have the lowest perceived levels of corruption in Latinamerica, a benchmark and inspiration for the Americas according to the latest report from Transparency International. Argentina and Venezuela are among the low performers in a region where there are serious indications of “rampant corruption”.
Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 12:48 UTC
The Chilean currency at its highest in 16 months: 496 to the US dollar

The Chilean peso rose to its strongest level against the US dollar in 16 months after copper prices and global stocks rallied. The peso climbed 1.1% to 496.6 per dollar during trading and touched 494.15, the strongest since July 2008.
Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 12:38 UTC
Brown proposes Afghanistan campaign “transfer timetable” talks

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown plans to host talks in the New Year to discuss timing for handing over the campaign in Afghanistan to the Afghan government. PM Brown said he wanted the NATO meeting to “set a timetable” for transfer starting in 2010.
Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 09:14 UTC
Shimon Peres in Argentina proposes “a new relation for a new world”

Israeli President Shimon Peres met on Monday with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Shimon arrived on Sunday in Argentina, home to Latin America's biggest Jewish community for a two-day visit.
Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 09:05 UTC
Plan to recover two crates of Shackleton’s whisky buried in Antarctica

Explorers are planning to recover a rare batch of whisky lost during explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated voyage to the South Pole a century ago. Two crates of the now extinct “Rare Old” brand of McKinlay and Co whisky have been buried in the Antarctic ice since Shackleton was forced to abandon his polar mission in 1909.
Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 09:00 UTC
Royal Navy’s new hunter nuclear submarine “Astute” takes to the sea

The biggest and most powerful attack submarine ever built for the Royal Navy, “Astute” took to the seas this weekend. “Astute” set sail from Barrow-in-Furness to start her first set of sea trials and is now heading to her homeport of Faslane on the Clyde in Scotland.
Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 01:02 UTC
Repsol cutting EP investment plans to reduce costs

Repsol-YPF, Spain’s biggest oil company cut its five-year exploration and production investment plan to reduce costs as the economic slowdown saps earnings. Repsol will invest an estimated 8.76 billion Euros in E&P from 2008 through 2012, down from an earlier plan to spend 9.3 billion Euros, the Madrid-based company announced Monday.