Politics

• Tuesday, August 30th 2016 - 07:25 UTC

  Spain heading for a new political deadlock and a possible new election in Christmas

  

  Spain's acting prime minister said on Monday that he would continue to seek support to form a minority government and end an eight-month political impasse even if he fails to win confidence votes in parliament this week as is expected.

• Tuesday, August 30th 2016 - 07:16 UTC

  Guterres remains frontrunner for UN top job; Malcorra drops to fifth position

  

  Portugal's former prime minister Antonio Guterres is still the frontrunner to become the next secretary-general of the United Nations following a third straw poll held Monday, diplomats said. Guterres, who served as UN refugee chief for 10 years, received 11 votes of encouragement, three “discourage” votes and one “no opinion” during the informal vote by the 15-member Security Council.

• Tuesday, August 30th 2016 - 07:00 UTC

  Argentina wants to make life easier for the Falklands: insists with air link to Buenos Aires

  

  Argentine ambassador in the UK, Carlos Sersale Di Cerisano said that ”an association with Argentina will be favorable for the Falklands Islanders (kelpers)“ and added that ”the Argentine government will try to make life easier for Islanders”.

• Tuesday, August 30th 2016 - 04:47 UTC

  Rousseff claims impeachment is a new type of coup; street protests in her support

  

  Brazil's suspended president, Dilma Rousseff, took the stand on Monday at her impeachment trial in the Senate, delivering a last-ditch defense to prevent her final removal from office. “Don’t expect from me the obliging silence of cowards,” Ms. Rousseff, 68, said in a withering attack on her opponents at the start of her testimony.

• Tuesday, August 30th 2016 - 04:38 UTC

  Mercosur members who disagree and don't accept consensus “can walk out”...

  

  Paraguay said Mercosur will continue to function and is waiting for a reply from Uruguay to confirm a collegiate presidency of the block, until Argentina takes the helm at the end of the year. If not, “Mercosur members are well aware that the the same way they decided to belong to the group, they can walk away...”

• Tuesday, August 30th 2016 - 04:07 UTC

  HMS Protector crew parade next to the Chilean navy to honor Pilot Pardo in Punta Arenas

  

  Sailors and Royal Marines from Ice Patrol HMS Protector participated on Sunday in a major parade in Punta Arenas, next to members from the Chilean Navy, local Fire fighters and two schools, as part of the commemorations to honor pilot Luis Pardo Villalón, the Chilean navy officer who a century ago rescued the 22 survivors of Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedition “Endurance”.

• Monday, August 29th 2016 - 06:49 UTC

  Germany admits US/Europe trade talks have failed; growing fears of populism reactions

  

  Talks aimed at setting up a U.S.-European free trade zone have run aground because of intransigence on Washington's part, a top German politician said Sunday. The Obama administration and the 28-member European Union have been in talks to set up the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, which would be the world's largest free trade zone.

• Monday, August 29th 2016 - 06:41 UTC

  Morales claims killing of minister and three miners was a coup attempt

  

  Morales claimed that the violent miners protests this week that resulted in the beating and killing of Deputy Interior Minister Rodolfo Illanes and the deaths of three demonstrators were the latest unsuccessful attempt by his political enemies to forcibly remove him from office.

• Monday, August 29th 2016 - 04:27 UTC

  Obama creates largest protected marine area in Hawaii

  

  United States President Barack Obama will dramatically expand the Papahnaumokuakea Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii on Friday, the White House said, an action that will ban commercial fishing from more than 1.5 million sq km of the Pacific Ocean.

• Monday, August 29th 2016 - 04:11 UTC

  Venezuela and Iran announce new “dynamic bilateral relations”

  

  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro named Chief General Jesus Gonzalez as the country's new ambassador to Iran on Saturday, while announcing the beginning of a new dynamic era in Caracas-Tehran bilateral relations.