Politics

• Thursday, September 3rd 2009 - 03:21 UTC

  Falklands on route map for 2010 Games in India Queen’s Baton relay

  

  Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is to launch a baton relay – one of the longest in history – in the presence of Indian President Pratibha Patil to lift the curtain on the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, organizers announced this week.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 13:48 UTC

  Colombian lawmakers pass Uribe re-election bill

  

  Colombian lawmakers passed a bill on Tuesday aimed at allowing President Alvaro Uribe to seek a third consecutive term if the conservative U.S. ally chooses to run for re-election next May.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 13:30 UTC

  Cristina and Nestor become Argentina’s most rejected political couple

  

  The image of Argentina president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her predecessor and husband Nestor Kirchner have plunged to an all time record low since they took office: 23% and 21% respectively, according to the latest public opinion poll published in the site of the Buenos Aires newspaper Critica.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 13:23 UTC

  Amnesty International calls for an end to the US embargo against Cuba

  

  President Barack Obama should take the first step towards dismantling the US embargo against Cuba by not renewing sanctions against the island under the Trading with the Enemy Act, said Amnesty International in an official Tuesday release.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 13:12 UTC

  Gibraltar signs information exchange agreements to boost tax transparency

  

  Gibraltar Chief Minister Peter Caruana signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with the UK which is set to boost levels of transparency on tax-related issues, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 13:03 UTC

  The “morbid obsession” of Cuban censors to protect their perks

  

  An article published Sunday in the official Cuban daily Juventud Rebelde criticizes the “morbid obsession” and “paranoia” of some officials for censuring information and rejecting criticism by other officials in an attempt to maintain the image of the Castro ruled island or their own positions.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 13:00 UTC

  Torturers of Pinochet era still on Chilean government payroll

  

  Chilean Defence Minister Fransisco Vidal confirmed Monday that the Military still employs people accused or convicted of human rights abuses under Chile’s military dictatorship (1973-1990). The state employees receive monthly salaries of up to 2,200 US dollars.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 07:41 UTC

  Euro zone record in July: 15.1 million jobless

  

  Unemployment in the 16-member Euro zone hit a 10-year high in July, data released Tuesday showed. EU statistics office Eurostat said that another 167,000 people were unemployed in the Euro zone during July, pushing the jobless rate up to 9.5% from 9.4% in June which takes the total to 15.1 million people.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 07:23 UTC

  Terrorist suspect to be confirmed as Iranian Defence minister

  

  Iranian MPs have strongly backed the defence minister-designate, in defiance of Argentine demands for his arrest over a 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires. Ahmad Vahidi faced no opposition from MPs on the third day of a debate on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's choices for his new cabinet.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 07:13 UTC

  Commonwealth fully suspends Fiji for refusing to call elections

  

  The Commonwealth has fully suspended Fiji after it refused to bow to demands to call elections by next year. Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma cited the Pacific island country's lack of progress towards democracy.