Politics

Saturday, January 18th 2014 - 06:10 UTC
Haiti PM Lamonthe pledges free, fair and honest elections later this year

Haiti’s Prime Minister Laurent Lamonthe has pledged that his government will provide the necessary means to the electoral council to facilitate the holding of legislative and local elections this year.
Saturday, January 18th 2014 - 04:58 UTC
Catalonia lawmakers have asked Madrid for a referendum on the region's future

Lawmakers from the Spanish region of Catalonia voted to seek a referendum on breaking away from Spain on Thursday, setting themselves up for a battle with an implacably opposed central government in Madrid. The Catalan Parliament in Barcelona voted 87 to 43, with 3 abstentions, to send a petition to the national parliament seeking the power to call a popular vote on the region’s future.
Friday, January 17th 2014 - 08:05 UTC
US dollar keeps breaking records in Argentina; central banks reserves fall a further 100 million

The US dollar reached a new record high on Thursday as purchase pressure on the so called “blue” or informal market continues pushing the price which closed 35 cents up at 11.50 pesos for buyers and 11.55 pesos for sellers.
Friday, January 17th 2014 - 07:45 UTC
US consumer inflation in December, 0.3% and in twelve months 1.5%

US consumer inflation spiked in December, driven higher by rising fuel prices. The consumer price index rose 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis, the US Labor Department said.
Friday, January 17th 2014 - 07:41 UTC
Vatican questioned by UN child rights watchdog on child sex abuse by priests

The Vatican was Thursday pushed for the first time to provide answers to the UN over its commitment to stamp out child sex abuse by priests. The landmark question-and-answer session before the UN's child rights watchdog in Geneva came as Pope Francis said Catholics should feel “shame”, in an apparent reference to the scandals that have rocked the Church.
Friday, January 17th 2014 - 07:34 UTC
Pope reshuffles the Vatican bank and sacks four cardinals from oversight commission

Pope Francis shook up the scandal-plagued Vatican bank, removing four of five cardinals from an oversight body in a break with the clerical financial establishment he inherited from his predecessor. It was his latest move to get to grips with an institution that has often been an embarrassment for the Holy See and which he has vowed to either reform or close.
Friday, January 17th 2014 - 07:29 UTC
US Congress supports budget peace for the rest of the fiscal year

Washington's battles over government funding ended with a whimper today as the US Senate approved a 1.1 trillion dollars spending bill that quells for nearly nine months the threat of another federal agency shutdown.
Friday, January 17th 2014 - 07:09 UTC
US Congress wants action on banks involved in the commodities business

United States lawmakers are pressing the Federal Reserve to act more forcefully, and quickly, to limit banks’ involvement in the commodities business, which has been blamed for inflating prices on everyday items like electricity and canned beverages.
Friday, January 17th 2014 - 06:49 UTC
Queues and delays at the Gibraltar border reach Parliament

The detrimental effect that border delays have had on tourism and visitor numbers to Gibraltar has been the subject of recent questions in the House of Commons. In a written question tabled before the lower House, Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell requested information from the Secretary of State regarding the effect that the border delays have had over the last four months.
Friday, January 17th 2014 - 06:44 UTC
HMS Portland with a female commander leaves for Atlantic patrol

Type 23 frigate HMS Portland left on Monday from Davenport naval base for the Atlantic to provide on-going protection and reassurance to British interests in the region, which includes the Falklands and other South Atlantic islands.