Politics

• Tuesday, October 13th 2009 - 04:01 UTC

  Mexican government fights waste, inefficiency and takes over energy plant

  

  Mexico has closed a state-run energy distribution firm with about 40,000 employees and 25 million customers, blaming the scale of its losses. Federal police seized the offices of Luz y Fuerza del Centro on Saturday night when the city was celebrating Mexico’s qualifier to the South Africa World Cup.

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 10:53 UTC

  Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay best performers in democratic development

  

  Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay have the highest democratic development in Latinamerica while Guatemala and Bolivia stand at the opposite end of the ranking. The index measures among other things respect for political rights, civil liberties, institutional quality and the capacity of the different governments to deliver.

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 10:40 UTC

  Major missile systems upgrade for Type 23 frigate HMS Argyll

  

  The Royal Navy warship HMS Argyll is to have her missile system upgraded in a major £19m refit in Fife. The Type 23 frigate has just arrived in Rosyth, Scotland for a year-long overhaul by 120 Babcock staff who will provide her with new electronic guns.

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 08:22 UTC

  ALBA summit in Bolivia to speed economic integration

  

  The ALBA, Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, meets this week in Bolivia with economic integration as the main issue of the agenda.

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 07:58 UTC

  Gorbachev says the world was a safer place during the Cold War

  

  Mijail Gorbachev, the last leader of the defunct Soviet Union said that the “world was a safer place during the Cold War” and warned that the major current risk to the world is the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 07:48 UTC

  A founder of Colombia’s FARC dies of heart attack in the jungle

  

  One of the historic founders of the Colombian guerrilla movement FARC (Colombian Rebel Armed Forces) died in the jungle, close to the Venezuelan border, three months ago of a heart attack, according to FARC sources quoted in the Bogotá Sunday press.

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 07:47 UTC

  British government to sell assets to help balance public finances

  

  The British Government is to sell off £16 billion of assets as part of moves to restore stability to the public finances, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to announce. Details of an initial round of sales that could raise £3 billion - including the Tote, the Dartford crossing, the Channel Tunnel rail link, and the Student Loan book.

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 06:54 UTC

  Playboy magazine targets Simpons generation with Marge in the cover

  

  Simpsons matriarch Marge Simpson is gracing the cover of Playboy magazine, becoming the first cartoon character in the publication's history.

• Sunday, October 11th 2009 - 11:55 UTC

  Memorial inauguration marks positive chapter in Falklands-Argentina relations

  

  The Malvinas Families successfully closed on Saturday the chapter of the much awaited humanitarian inauguration of the Memorial at the Argentine cemetery in Falklands, which removed an unnecessarily irritating element in the otherwise warm and respectful relations between Argentine visitors and the Islanders.

• Sunday, October 11th 2009 - 11:53 UTC

  Fidel Castro supports Norwegian academy on Nobel prize for Obama

  

  Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro praised the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama, saying it was “a positive measure” that was more a criticism of past US policies than a recognition of Obama's accomplishments.