Politics

• Friday, January 3rd 2014 - 23:21 UTC

  Brazil wants no surprises: creates elite force to support police during the World Cup

  

  Brazil has created a special riot force to help police control demonstrations expected during the World Cup later this year. Colonel Alexandre Augusto Aragon, who heads the elite National Security Force, was quoted in local news on Friday as saying that 10,000 riot troops selected from state police forces throughout Brazil will be deployed in the 12 cities hosting World Cup games June 12-July 13.

• Friday, January 3rd 2014 - 23:05 UTC

  Spain steps in to try to resolve cost dispute over Panama Canal expansion

  

  Spain stepped in on Friday to try to resolve a cost dispute over the expansion of Panama's canal, which has triggered a sell-off in the shares of Sacyr SA, the Spanish builder leading the project. Spain's Public Works minister, Ana Pastor, and Sacyr Chairman Manuel Manrique are due to travel to Panama on the weekend, Panama's president, Ricardo Martinelli, said.

• Friday, January 3rd 2014 - 18:52 UTC

  Record exports in dollars for Uruguay in 2013, but prospects not so encouraging

  

  Uruguayan exports in 2013 increased 4.8% in value and reached a record 9,155 billion dollars with soybean the main item and China the leading trade partner. The data was released by the government export promotion organization Uruguay XXI, which sometimes is over optimistic.

• Friday, January 3rd 2014 - 18:40 UTC

  'Andean super crop' quinoa opens the way for the UN Year of Family Farming

  

  Increased production and consumption of quinoa, coupled with higher visibility of and greater scientific knowledge about the so-called “Andean super crop” is the legacy left to the world by the International Year of Quinoa 2013, the closing ceremonies of which were held in Bolivia and Peru.

• Friday, January 3rd 2014 - 18:25 UTC

  Israel has eliminated most of terrorists involved in deadly attacks on Jewish targets in Argentina

  

  Israel has killed most of the terrorists who perpetrated deadly attacks on its embassy and a Jewish community center in Argentina in the 1990s, Israel's former Ambassador to Argentina Yitzhak Aviran told the Spanish-language Jewish news agency Agencia Judia de Noticias on Thursday.

• Friday, January 3rd 2014 - 14:43 UTC

  Chinese icebreaker trapped in Antarctica after rescuing passengers from Russian vessel

  

  The Chinese icebreaker that helped rescue 52 passengers from a Russian ship stranded in Antarctic ice found itself stuck in heavy ice, further complicating the 9-day “roller-coaster” rescue operation. “Snow Dragon” (Xue Long) had ferried the passengers from the stranded Russian ship to an Australian icebreaker late on Thursday.

• Friday, January 3rd 2014 - 06:02 UTC

  Catalonia president takes vote on independence case to EU heads of government

  

  Catalonia's president has called on European Union prime ministers for support as the region seeks a vote on independence in November this year, the source of an increasingly bitter fight with Spain's central government.

• Friday, January 3rd 2014 - 05:56 UTC

  Falklands' war Regan/Thatcher fake tape had CIA and MI6 in disarray for months

  

  A fake tape of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher arguing over the Falklands War had the British secret services scrambling to identify the culprits, archive files released Friday showed. The tape, supposedly a telephone recording of then US president Reagan and the British prime minister, was anonymously sent to several Dutch newspapers during the 1983 UK general election.

• Friday, January 3rd 2014 - 05:51 UTC

  France's controversial 'super-tax' becomes effective despite business leaders and football clubs

  

  A French court has approved a highly controversial “millionaire tax” on annual salaries above €1 million. The super tax, one of President Francois Hollande’s signature policies, has infuriated business leaders and football clubs.

• Friday, January 3rd 2014 - 05:46 UTC

  Latvia becomes the 18th member of the Euro club: not all Latvians convinced

  

  Latvia woke up to both a New Year and a new currency Wednesday after the ex-Soviet Baltic state swapped its cherished 'lats' for the euro at midnight, becoming the 18th member of the troubled Euro-zone. The entry of the country of two million people capped another turbulent year for the Euro zone, recovering gradually from a crippling debt crisis and ensuing recession.