Mercosur

• Wednesday, January 25th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  QM2 passengers launch mass lawsuit

  Passengers on board the luxury liner Queen Mary 2 have initiated a mass lawsuit against the ship's operator. A UK law firm told the BBC news website it has registered a class action on behalf of “disappointed holidaymakers”.

• Tuesday, January 24th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Pinochet's Family has been arrested for Tax Evasion

  A judge in Chile has charged Lucia Hiriart, the wife of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, and four of their children, with fraud over millions of dollars held in secret bank accounts abroad.

• Tuesday, January 24th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Canada Conservatives win election

  Canada's opposition Conservatives were heading for a narrow victory in Monday's national election, ending 12 years of Liberal rule, major television networks said.

• Tuesday, January 24th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Zero corruption, zero bureaucracy Pte. Morales said to his new Cabinet

  Bolivia's new president, Evo Morales, has named union leaders and fellow Indians to his first cabinet with a mission to eradicate corruption and end neo-liberal policies.

• Tuesday, January 24th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Blockage harms Kirchner's thaw plan

  Five trucks that were headed for one of the two paper pulp mills under construction in the Uruguayan town of Fray Bentos were blocked yesterday by Argentine protesters who oppose the plants for environmental reasons.

• Monday, January 23rd 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Queen Mary 2 passengers threaten to mutiny

  Passengers on the luxury Queen Mary 2 cruise ship are threatening to mutiny after the ship set sail from Florida with a damaged propeller. They have said they will refuse to disembark when the ship reaches Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, next week, to prevent it from continuing its journey.

• Monday, January 23rd 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Ushuaia four days call for HMS Endurance

  The Royal Navy's Ice Patrol HMS Endurance is scheduled to arrive Monday morning in Ushuaia, Argentine Tierra del Fuego where she's expected to remain four days, reports the Tierra del Fuego press.

• Monday, January 23rd 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Morales promises to change Bolivian history

  Shortly after his inauguration Sunday as the first indigenous president of Bolivia, pledging to end “500 years of injustice” against his people, Evo Morales participated in a massive celebration party in downtown La Paz with a crowd estimated in 100.000.

• Monday, January 23rd 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  New Zealand's Orion makes ice landing

  The Air Force has landed an Orion aircraft in Antarctica for the first time in an attempt to find out whether surveillance patrols of the Southern Ocean can be extended.

• Monday, January 23rd 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Lagos on Historic Visit to Bolivia

  Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, bidding to ease decades of diplomatic friction with
  Bolivia, paid a historic visit yesterday as he became the first Chilean leader in 51 years to attend an inauguration in the neighbouring country.