Politics

• Saturday, July 4th 2009 - 14:04 UTC

  Peruvian PM to step down; opens door for a cabinet reshuffle

  

  Peruvian Prime Minister Yehude Simon said on Friday he planned to “irrevocably” step down next week following heavy criticism of the government's handling of violent Amazon protests in which at least 50 people died last month.

• Saturday, July 4th 2009 - 14:03 UTC

  OAS mission finds “no conditions” for Zelaya’s return to Honduras

  

  The head of the Organisation of American States has said he found no willingness in Honduras' interim government to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya. Jose Miguel Insulza said that “unfortunately, in Honduras the conditions are not there for Zelaya's return”.

• Friday, July 3rd 2009 - 13:55 UTC

  Mercosur agrees on the agenda for the presidential summit

  

  Advance teams from Mercosur country members reached a tentative agenda for this month’s presidential summit at the end of the month, (July 23/24) according to sources in Paraguay the country which will hosting the meeting.

• Friday, July 3rd 2009 - 13:45 UTC

  Falkland Islands: Weekly Penguin News Update

  

  Headlines: Hundreds to lose out as means testing kicks in; End of the line for fresh milk as Stanley Dairy set to close; Farmer livestock costs to rise.

• Friday, July 3rd 2009 - 13:43 UTC

  World Bank praises Latinamerican fiscal and social policies

  

  World Bank group president Robert B. Zoellick underlined that Latinamerican largest countries are better prepared to face the world crisis, based on strong budgets and primary surpluses and the development of effective social policies.

• Thursday, July 2nd 2009 - 12:39 UTC

  Uruguay’s primary election results stun the ruling coalition

  

  Uruguay’s main opposition party performed much better than anticipated according to official results of last Sunday’s primary elections for the nomination of presidential candidates for October’s elections.

• Thursday, July 2nd 2009 - 12:31 UTC

  Honduran interim president rejects OAS ultimatum

  

  Honduran interim president Roberto Micheletti rejected Wednesday an ultimatum from American governments to reinstate ousted leader Manuel Zelaya to the presidency. The ongoing political crisis has sparked new protests in the capital Tegucigalpa which is under military curfew.

• Thursday, July 2nd 2009 - 12:27 UTC

  Conservative, pro business president takes office in Panama

  

  Ricardo Martinelli, the multimillionaire owner of a supermarket chain, was inaugurated as president of Panama on Wednesday. National Assembly President Jose Luis Varela performed the swearing-in and placed the presidential sash on Martinelli, a pro-business conservative who in May defeated a candidate from the ruling center-left party.

• Thursday, July 2nd 2009 - 09:17 UTC

  Gibraltar plans to purchase vessels “to put an end to Spanish incursions”

  

  The Gibraltar Government plans to boost its presence in Gibraltar’s territorial waters by purchasing larger vessels with which to enforce its jurisdiction reports the Gibraltar Chronicle. Chief Minister Peter Caruana made a brief reference to the plan during his closing address to Parliament at the end of last week’s budget session.

• Thursday, July 2nd 2009 - 08:17 UTC

  PM Brown and Tory leader Cameron clash over public spending cuts

  

  The leader of the British opposition, David Cameron has accused the Prime Minister of “deceit” over public spending cuts. Tory leader Cameron rounded on Mr Brown at Commons question time, after he again claimed the Tories were planning 10% cuts.