Politics

• Tuesday, August 5th 2014 - 07:03 UTC

  Iran officials admit supplying missile technology to Hamas to wipe out Israel

  

  Two senior Iranian officials told an Arabic-language television channel on Monday that Tehran has supplied missile technology to Hamas for its fight against Israel. Revolutionary Guard commander Mohammad Ali Jafari warned in an interview with the Arabic channel of Iran's state Al-Alam television that Palestinian resistance to Israeli aggression is “endless and growing.”

• Tuesday, August 5th 2014 - 06:54 UTC

  Griesa praises Pollack's 'great skill” and reveals he directed the use of 'default'

  

  U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa on Monday turned back an effort by Argentina's government to remove the court-appointed mediator in the dispute with creditors that triggered a 'selective default' situation by the country last week. He also revealed that the default condition was at his direction and was 'accurate'.

• Tuesday, August 5th 2014 - 06:50 UTC

  Barcena anticipates that Argentina will probably have negative growth in 2014

  

  Argentina's economy probably will contract in 2014, the head of the United Nation's body for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC said on Monday, as fallout from a new sovereign debt crisis will keep the country out of money markets.

• Tuesday, August 5th 2014 - 06:30 UTC

  “Lights out” event marked 100 years ceremonies since Britain entered World War One

  

  A candle-lit vigil at Westminster Abbey and a “lights out” event have concluded a day of ceremonies marking 100 years since Britain entered World War One. People were invited to turn off their lights for an hour until 23:00 BST, the time war was declared on 4 August 1914.

• Monday, August 4th 2014 - 07:41 UTC

  Trying to gauge the impact of Argentina's situation in Mercosur partners

  

  Argentina’s debt problems threatens to worsen trade tensions in Mercosur, adding to the economic woes of Brazil in a tense election year and causing headaches in Uruguay as the Argentine economy looks likely to plunge deeper into recession.

• Monday, August 4th 2014 - 07:34 UTC

  Debt ruling shows a callous disregard to the effects on Argentina

  

  By Eileen Appelbaum (The New York Times) - There is no way to construe as fair the United States court ruling that Argentina cannot pay 93% of its creditors, unless it first pays a small group of hedge funds. It's not fair to the 93% of bondholders who negotiated a restructuring of Argentina’s debt in 2005 and 2010 with reduced payments.

• Monday, August 4th 2014 - 07:20 UTC

  EU orders Russia to pay 2.5bn dollars to former Yukos oil group shareholders

  

  Russia has been ordered to pay about 2.5bn dollars to former shareholders in defunct oil group Yukos by the European Court of Human Rights. Russia's Justice Ministry said the ruling was “unfair” and it had three months to appeal against the decision.

• Monday, August 4th 2014 - 07:09 UTC

  Malvinas war and the 2001 and 2014 defaults, Argentina's worst mistakes in 33 years

  

  The Falklands/Malvinas war, the 2001 default and the 2014 default are “the three events that are going to go down, in recent Argentina history, as the three worst strategic mistakes committed by the country”, according to political analyst and historian Rosendo Fraga.

• Monday, August 4th 2014 - 07:03 UTC

  Magallanes with lowest unemployment rate in Chile, but quality of jobs is questioned

  

  Unemployment in the extreme south Chilean region of Magallanes was the lowest in the country during the April/June quarter, 2.3%, according to the latest report from the country's stats office, INE. This is 0.5 percentage points less than the previous quarter and 1.4 percentage points below a year ago.

• Sunday, August 3rd 2014 - 13:22 UTC

  “Argentina Finds Relentless Foe in Paul Singer’s Hedge Fund”

  

  The following article by Peter Eavis and Alexandra Stevenson was published in The New York Times and addresses the current litigation between Argentina and the speculative funds. The hedge fund firm of billionaire Paul E. Singer has about 300 employees, yet it has managed to force Argentina, a nation of 41 million people, into a position where it now has to contemplate a humbling surrender.