Politics

• Friday, May 3rd 2013 - 02:41 UTC

  Freedom of the press in the America exposed to violence and intimidation from governments

  

  Violence, intimidation and polarization still obstruct reporting in Americas says the 2013 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index which was released in anticipation of the World Press Freedom Day, May 3 (*). The report states that the ranking of most countries is no longer attributable to dramatic political developments and this year’s index is a better reflection of the attitudes and intentions of governments towards media freedom in the medium or long term.

• Friday, May 3rd 2013 - 02:34 UTC

  Rousseff insists oil royalties should be invested in education; divided Congress disagrees

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said she has sent to Congress another proposal to earmark all oil royalties collected by the state for public education after lawmakers shelved an earlier effort. Rousseff made the announcement in a televised Labour Day speech in which she said improving education was vital for Brazil's development in a highly competitive world.

• Thursday, May 2nd 2013 - 08:18 UTC

  Obama begins fourth visit to strategic Mexico with a full agenda of critical issues

  

  President Barack Obama leaves on Thursday for Mexico and Costa Rica, on a strategic mission to deepen trade ties and jobs’ creation but also hoping to discuss US immigration reform, security threats and drug wars.

• Thursday, May 2nd 2013 - 08:03 UTC

  Where is Uruguay’s economy headed?

  

  Fitch Ratings in March joined two other major ratings agencies in giving Uruguay its coveted investment grade, a move that lowers the nation’s borrowing costs and opens up opportunities for new investors.

• Thursday, May 2nd 2013 - 07:56 UTC

  British tax havens will have to open their banking systems to UK and EU scrutiny

  

  Tax havens such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands will work more closely with Britain and other European countries to fight tax evasion, British finance minister George Osborne said.

• Thursday, May 2nd 2013 - 07:45 UTC

  Brazil leads meeting of Amazon basin Cooperation Treaty in Ecuador

  

  Brazilian Foreign minister Antonio Patriota arrives Thursday in Ecuador for bilateral talks on trade, investment and immigration, and to attend a day later the Amazon group summit of ministers, reports Itamaraty palace.

• Thursday, May 2nd 2013 - 07:37 UTC

  Falkland Islands’ economy ‘strangling’ and intimidation by Argentina reported in British media

  

  Argentina’s ongoing attempts to strangle the Falkland Islands economy by intimidating cruise vessels from calling at Stanley and other islands has been picked up by the Daily Mail in an article written by Ian Drury.

• Thursday, May 2nd 2013 - 07:23 UTC

  Israel defense supplier to establish an aerospace research hub in south Brazil

  

  Israeli defense giant Elbit Systems Ltd. plans to create a hub of aerospace research in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, company officials said.

• Thursday, May 2nd 2013 - 07:18 UTC

  Foreign Office and Parliament plan strategy ahead of Scotland’s independence referendum

  

  Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed the publication of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Report on foreign policy considerations for an independent Scotland. The Foreign Affairs Committee announced its inquiry into ‘the foreign policy implications of and for a separate Scotland’ on 18 July 2012.

• Thursday, May 2nd 2013 - 07:12 UTC

  Following the beatings of opposition members, OAS calls for dialogue in Venezuelan congress

  

  The Organization of American States (OAS) expressed concern over the acts of violence that took place on Tuesday in the National Assembly of Venezuela and noted that “this reflects, in a dramatic way, the absence of a political dialogue that could reassure the public and the branches of government, in order to resolve the outstanding issues in this country in a climate of peace between all Venezuelans”.