Politics

• Thursday, September 24th 2015 - 07:03 UTC

  Xi arrives in the US hoping for investments and pledging cooperation

  

  Seeking to warm bilateral ties and project a sunny climate for U.S. business, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed on Wednesday to cut restrictions on foreign investment, while his chief Internet regulator appeared to lay the groundwork for a basic agreement later this week on cyber warfare.

• Thursday, September 24th 2015 - 06:50 UTC

  Pope addresses several controversial issues in his first day in Washington

  

  Pope Francis on his first full day in the United States addressed several controversial issues when delivering two big speeches that referred to climate change, religious liberty, immigration, and abortion.

• Wednesday, September 23rd 2015 - 11:09 UTC

  France will appeal EU opt-out scheme to ban cultivation of GM crops

  

  France is to use a new European opt-out scheme to ensure a ban on the cultivation of genetically modified crops in the country remains in place. The European Union's largest grain grower and exporter has asked the European Commission for France to be excluded from some GM maize crop cultivation under the new scheme, the farm and environment ministries said in a joint statement.

• Wednesday, September 23rd 2015 - 10:11 UTC

  Risk of 'corralito' (freeze of bank accounts) if Catalonia secedes from Spain

  

  Bank of Spain governor Luis María Linde on Monday stated that if Catalonia secedes from Spain, there could be a risk of a corralito, the popular term for economic measures that include a freeze on clients’ accounts, with the aim of halting a potential bank run.

• Wednesday, September 23rd 2015 - 09:03 UTC

  Guyana claims Venezuela is making “abnormal military deployments” near the border

  

  Guyana President David Granger is claiming that Venezuela is making “abnormal and extraordinary military deployments” near the border between the two countries. He made the accusation on Tuesday, saying that he had received reports about the movement in eastern Venezuela/western Guyana.

• Wednesday, September 23rd 2015 - 08:43 UTC

  Tsipras takes office with a daunting agenda; 45% abstained on Sunday

  

  Alexis Tsipras took the oath of office for a second term as Greek prime minister, promising to revive the crippled economy while demanding debt relief from creditors as his “first big battle” following an unexpectedly clear election victory.

• Wednesday, September 23rd 2015 - 07:31 UTC

  Obama and Biden greet Francis as he begins six-day visit; he will address US congress

  

  Pope Francis on Tuesday afternoon touched down at Joint Base Andrews to begin a historic six-day, three-city visit that will have political, diplomatic and spiritual ramifications. Breaking from the usual protocol for a state visit, President Obama and Vice President Biden chose to greet the papal plane before Francis departed in a hatchback Fiat to begin his tightly scheduled, carefully choreographed and highly anticipated visit.

• Wednesday, September 23rd 2015 - 07:17 UTC

  Uruguay pumps greenbacks to keep the US dollar rate on sliding stability

  

  Uruguay's central bank was forced to sell almost 65 million dollars on Tuesday, the highest volume so far this year, to keep the US dollar from ballooning as fears of the collapse of the Brazilian economy are felt through the region. The dollar finally ended trading with a slight 0.12% increase at 28,826 Pesos to the greenback.

• Wednesday, September 23rd 2015 - 06:55 UTC

  'Cristina Fernandez 2019' and a Scioli 'constructive transition' burst into the presidential campaign

  

  Estela de Carlotto, the president of Argentina's Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo human rights organization, considered Daniel Scioli a “faithful and different man” whose triumph in the October presidential elections could pave the way for a “constructive transition” toward the “return of Cristina” Fernández to power in four years time.

• Tuesday, September 22nd 2015 - 14:38 UTC

  Trinidad approves extradition proceedings for Concacaf ex chief, Jack Warner

  

  The extradition proceedings against Jack Warner, a former vice-president of football's world governing body FIFA, are to go ahead after being approved by Trinidad's attorney general. Untied States wants to try Mr. Warner, 72, a Trinidadian national, on corruption charges. He is accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes.