Politics

• Monday, September 29th 2014 - 08:15 UTC

  Spain's constitutional court to decide on Catalonia's referendum announcement

  

  Catalonia's president on Saturday formally called a referendum to decide whether Spain's richest region should be independent, defying Madrid which vowed to block the move. Shortly after Artur Mas set the vote for November 9, the Spanish government said the referendum would not take place because it was “unconstitutional”.

• Sunday, September 28th 2014 - 11:06 UTC

  Falklands celebrates Chile's National Day with party at Government House

  

  The Chilean community in the Falkland Islands celebrated their country’s independence day on Thursday 18 September with a reception hosted by H E the Governor Colin Roberts at Government House, and a party at the Narrows Bar.

• Sunday, September 28th 2014 - 10:10 UTC

  Blatter says 'corruption report' will not be made public arguing 'confidentiality'

  

  Sepp Blatter says a report into allegations of corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests will not be made public. During a press conference wrapping up a two-day executive meeting, the FIFA president said that the report by the federation’s chief investigator Michael Garcia will not be published.

• Sunday, September 28th 2014 - 10:02 UTC

  The land of beauty queens desperately short of quality breast implants

  

  From a lack of toilet paper that caused a stink, to a dearth of staple food items that left shoppers sucking salt, the Venezuelan people have been reeling under the blows of almost constant shortages for well over a year.

• Saturday, September 27th 2014 - 09:24 UTC

  Argentina lashes Griesa for not making a final decision on the Citibank dispute

  

  Argentina's Economy minister Axel Kicillof lashed out at US Judge Thomas Griesa after he authorized Citibank a one-off payment of Argentine bonds' coupon next Tuesday saying he once again failed to address the heart of the issue and also in fact recognized that bonds under Argentine law do not belong to his jurisdiction.

• Saturday, September 27th 2014 - 09:12 UTC

  Griesa allows Citibank to process a one-off payment of Argentine bonds

  

  US District Judge Thomas Griesa has enabled Citibank to process a one-off payment on US dollar-denominated bonds issued under Argentine law, during a hearing held at Manhattan federal court on Friday.

• Saturday, September 27th 2014 - 09:08 UTC

  Relief for Dilma: unemployment rate in August remained at 5%

  

  Brazil's jobless rate rose in August to its highest in six months despite stronger job creation, adding to signs that the economic recession is eroding a robust labor market. The non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate stood at 5.0 percent in August, up from 4.9% in July, statistics agency IBGE announced.

• Saturday, September 27th 2014 - 08:58 UTC

  European airlines cleared to allow passengers use mobile phones and PEDSs

  

  Airlines across Europe have been cleared to allow passengers' use of mobile phones and portable electronic devices (PEDs) throughout flights. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said there would be no restrictions in place from a safety perspective - a long-held reason for devices to be turned off or placed in “airplane mode”.

• Saturday, September 27th 2014 - 08:32 UTC

  UK Parliament approves air strikes against Islamic State extremists

  

  The UK Parliament has backed British participation in air strikes against Islamic State extremists in Iraq. After a seven-hour debate, MPs voted for military action by 524 votes to 43. Bombing could start as early as Sunday according to defense sources.

• Saturday, September 27th 2014 - 08:13 UTC

  Guest post: the UN is not the solution for a rogue debtor

  

  By Arturo Porzecanski of American University (*) - Jose Antonio Ocampo, a former United Nations official and co-president with Prof. Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University’s Initiative for Policy Dialogue, which promotes the adoption of heterodox economic policies in developing countries, recently wrote a guest post welcoming a UN General Assembly resolution calling for the launch of negotiations on a multilateral framework for sovereign debt restructuring.