Politics

• Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 03:04 UTC

  Zelaya claims US and Micheletti are involved in “laundering” the coup

  

  Honduran ousted president Manuel Zelaya claims the United States in partnership with de facto leader Roberto Micheletti are involved in an operation to “launder” the coup d’etat of June 28th.

• Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 03:02 UTC

  Unfriend, with real lex-appeal, word of the year for Oxford American Dictionary

  

  Unfriend“ has been named the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary, chosen from a list of finalists with high technical jargon. Unfriend was defined as a verb that means to remove someone as a ”friend” on a social networking site such as Facebook or MySpace.

• Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 02:38 UTC

  Chile and Uruguay, least corrupt in Latam and an inspiration for the region

  

  Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica have the lowest perceived levels of corruption in Latinamerica, a benchmark and inspiration for the Americas according to the latest report from Transparency International. Argentina and Venezuela are among the low performers in a region where there are serious indications of “rampant corruption”.

• Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 12:54 UTC

  Diplomatic row between Chile and Peru over spying accusations

  

  In separate statements this weekend, Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez and government spokesperson Carolina Toha refuted the spying accusations made by Peruvian officials late last week.
  “Chile does not spy” said the Chilean government officials.

• Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 12:42 UTC

  Brazil begins “spy” aircraft surveillance against organized crime in favelas

  

  The Brazilian Federal Police announced that beginning December an unmanned “spy” aircraft will over-fly the shanty towns of Rio do Janeiro at a height of 7.000 metres, well out of range from the drug gangs and trades that last week shot down a police helicopter killing three men on board.

• Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 12:39 UTC

  Federal Reserve working to “help ensure that the US dollar is strong”

  

  United States Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke said Monday that US policymakers are mindful of the sliding US dollar. Bernanke said he is “attentive” to the decline in the currency and is working to “help ensure that the dollar is strong”.

• Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 12:38 UTC

  Brown proposes Afghanistan campaign “transfer timetable” talks

  

  UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown plans to host talks in the New Year to discuss timing for handing over the campaign in Afghanistan to the Afghan government. PM Brown said he wanted the NATO meeting to “set a timetable” for transfer starting in 2010.

• Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 09:14 UTC

  Shimon Peres in Argentina proposes “a new relation for a new world”

  

  Israeli President Shimon Peres met on Monday with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Shimon arrived on Sunday in Argentina, home to Latin America's biggest Jewish community for a two-day visit.

• Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 09:10 UTC

  Latinamerica at the heart of a climate change deal, says Miliband

  

  United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Monday a politically binding deal on climate change will only be struck with the agreement of leading South American countries.

• Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 09:08 UTC

  Argentina’s first gay couple marriage scheduled for December, AIDS Day

  

  An Argentine gay couple that was enabled by a Buenos Aires City court ruling to get married after declaring the articles of the Civic Code that prohibit it as unconstitutional, requested on Monday a wedding date, according to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transvestite Federation (LGBT).