Politics

• Tuesday, August 23rd 2011 - 04:12 UTC

  Argentina says the pulp mill conflict with Uruguay is over and ‘buried’

  

  Diplomatic relations between Argentina and Uruguay are going through “a very good moment, which can obviously be improved”, but there are “no open conflicts” because the dispute over the Botnia pulp mill has been definitively “buried”, said Argentine Foreign Affairs minister Hector Timerman.

• Tuesday, August 23rd 2011 - 04:04 UTC

  Brazil auctions first concession to construct and operate major airport

  

  Brazil's government on Monday auctioned rights to the first major airport to be operated by a private company as the country moves to pick up the pace of investment in its air travel infrastructure ahead of the 2014 World Soccer Cup.

• Tuesday, August 23rd 2011 - 04:02 UTC

  UK buys 14 new Chinooks taking the total force of heavy lift helicopters to 60

  

  The Royal Air Force is getting 14 new Chinook, one of the most versatile heavy duty helicopters that have seen service for many years in the most demanding environments from the Falklands to Iraq and Afghanistan.

• Tuesday, August 23rd 2011 - 00:36 UTC

  Unasur Foreign Affairs ministers meet in Buenos Aires to address global crisis

  

  The Union of South American Nations, (Unasur) Foreign Affairs ministers’ council will be holding on Wednesday an extraordinary summit in Buenos Aires to address several issues related to last week’s meeting of Unasur Finance ministers.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 20:59 UTC

  Chavez supporters shave their heads in solidarity with the Venezuelan leader

  

  Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez shaved their heads in solidarity with their leader's struggle against cancer. Barbers shaved off the hair of several men and at least one woman while the crowd swayed to a religious song on Sunday as hundreds prayed and sang at a televised event.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 07:57 UTC

  Signs of disarray in the Brazilian ruling coalition as president attacks corruption

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff reached out to political allies to stem a growing rebellion within her coalition after the resignation of a fourth minister threatened to further tense already strained relations.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 07:22 UTC

  Chavez health and ‘arbitrary laws’ make S&P downgrade Venezuela’s rating

  

  US ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Venezuela's foreign and local currency sovereign ratings by one notch Friday, citing the country's political risk as a credit weakness.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 07:19 UTC

  Biden tells China US power not waning and anticipates a bumpy 2012

  

  US Vice President Joe Biden rejected views that US power is waning and said Washington would never default, wrapping up a China visit that has played down tensions between the world's two biggest economies. He also anticipated 2012 was a ‘transition year” both for the US and China

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 07:10 UTC

  Venezuela has requested 99 tons of gold holdings from the Bank of England

  

  Venezuela’s central bank has requested its 99 tons of gold holdings from the Bank of England, according to a bank statement sent by e-mail, citing the institution’s president Nelson Merentes.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 07:08 UTC

  Main suspect in murder of French tourists admits being at the scene of the crime

  

  One the men arrested for the July murder of two French tourists in Argentina's Salta province has confessed he was at the scene of the crime, his lawyer said Saturday.