Politics

Friday, August 28th 2015 - 06:50 UTC
US Treasury sanctions Farc members operating from Switzerland

The US has announced sanctions against four alleged members of Colombia's Farc rebel group, accusing them of drug trafficking and money laundering. The four men used a shop in Switzerland as a front for their activities, the US treasury department said. It says the Farc still use drugs to fund their “ruthless operation”.
Friday, August 28th 2015 - 06:17 UTC
Argentine Catholic Church in the dock over snatching of babies during military dictatorship

High-ranking officials of the Argentine Catholic Church were implicated in the appropriation of babies from detainees who were held in Cordoba province’s La Perla clandestine concentration camp during the last military dictatorship, journalist and writer Horacio Verbitsky, the head of the CELS human rights group, testified.
Friday, August 28th 2015 - 06:01 UTC
Infancy poverty in Argentina extensive to 40% of children living in urban areas

Infancy poverty in Argentina includes 40% of all children in urban areas, while 9.5% are considered to be living in indigent conditions, according to the latest Social Debt Barometer, from the Argentina Catholic University, UCA.
Friday, August 28th 2015 - 05:32 UTC
Lula da Silva seems to have lost his invincible electoral allure, opinion polls show

Former Brazilian president Lula da Silva, if he decided to run again in 2018 as his Workers Party insists, would lose the presidential contest against any of three potential candidates from the leading opposition party, PSDB, (Brazilian Social Democracy) according to a public opinion poll released this week.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 05:23 UTC
Scioli-Macri the most probable run-off in Argentina's presidential race

The scenario of a runoff in Argentina's coming presidential election next October 'remains' strong, according to public opinion analyst Jorge Giacobbe. The two candidates who are expected to dispute a second round in November are the incumbent Daniel Scioli and conservative Mauricio Macri.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 05:04 UTC
Barcelona targets home rental websites to crack on 'uncontrolled' tourism

Barcelona's new mayor is picking a fight with home rental websites as she tries to crack down on uncontrolled tourism that she fears could drive out poor residents and spoil the Catalan capital's charm. Ada Colau is threatening to fine firms like Airbnb and Booking.com if they market apartments from tourists without a number showing that they are on the Catalan tourism register.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 04:53 UTC
Spain confident its Gibraltar tough policy is 'bearing fruit' and will continue

The Spanish Government’s measures toward Gibraltar are ‘bearing fruit, Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel García-Margallo said in a weekend interview in which he vowed to maintain pressure on the Rock. Although the minister’s tough language on Gibraltar was nothing new, it was the second time within the space of a week that he had spoken out on the Rock.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 04:41 UTC
Dilma has an extra 12 days to show 'non-doctored' government accounts

Brazil's highest accounting court gave another 15 days for President Dilma Rousseff to respond to accusations she doctored the government accounts last year to hide the deterioration of the country's finances.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 04:35 UTC
Brazil unemployment climbs to 8.3% in 2Q; auto industry starting layoffs

Brazil’s unemployment rate rose to 8.3% in the second quarter, according to a release from the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics, IBGE. The ranks of the jobless expanded to 8.4 million people during the April-June period.
Thursday, August 27th 2015 - 02:36 UTC
Guatemala Supreme Court approves impeachment of president Otto Perez

The Guatemalan Supreme Court approved a request by the country’s attorney general to impeach President Otto Perez over his suspected involvement in a racket to siphon customs revenue from the government, and passed the matter to Congress for approval.