Politics

• Tuesday, September 10th 2013 - 00:55 UTC

  Ammesty International blasts Venezuela for abandoning human rights instrument

  

  Venezuela must immediately reverse its decision to withdraw from the American Convention on Human Rights and make a commitment to truly protect all individuals, Amnesty International said on Monday. The Venezuelan government’s decision will take effect on Tuesday 10 September. The withdrawal will leave Venezuelan citizens without the protection of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

• Tuesday, September 10th 2013 - 00:47 UTC

  Spying on Petrobras: if proven its ‘industrial espionage’ warns Rousseff

  

  Reports that the United States spied on Brazilian oil company Petrobras, if proven, would be tantamount to industrial espionage and have no security justification, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said on Monday.

• Tuesday, September 10th 2013 - 00:42 UTC

  BRICS agree on a 100bn ‘financial firewall’ in anticipation of ‘currency shocks’

  

  BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have agreed to a 100 billion dollars currency reserve pool as a “financial firewall” in anticipation of liquidity strains and ‘currency shocks’ as the United States Federal Reserve moves to reduce monetary stimulus.

• Tuesday, September 10th 2013 - 00:37 UTC

  Paraguayan president Cartes visits Cristina Fernandez in Buenos Aires

  

  Paraguayan president Horacio Cartes is expected in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, following an invitation from his Argentine peer Cristina Fernandez, which will be his first overseas bilateral trip since taking office 15 August.

• Tuesday, September 10th 2013 - 00:29 UTC

  The figure of Pinochet forty years later still divides Chile

  

  Chile's conservative government and center-left opposition held separate events on Monday in the capital Santiago to mark the 40th anniversary of the bloody coup that ushered in 17 years of harsh military rule under the late Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

• Tuesday, September 10th 2013 - 00:23 UTC

  Silvio Berlusconi’s fate has the Italian coalition (and economy) on the edge

  

  Silvio Berlusconi continues to prevail in Italian politics as a close ally warned on Monday that his party could pull out of Prime Minister Enrico Letta's government if a Senate committee refuses to delay a decision on whether to expel the media mogul from parliament.

• Tuesday, September 10th 2013 - 00:18 UTC

  Huge political display in support for Gibraltar on its National Day

  

  Representatives from British Overseas Territories including Falkland Islands lawmaker Ian Hansen as well as a cross-party delegation of British MPs were welcomed on Sunday by Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

• Monday, September 9th 2013 - 02:42 UTC

  Does Cristina Fernandez have time to combat the scourges of insecurity and inflation?

  

  In 2006 a year before Cristina Fernandez took office as president for the first time, Argentine public opinion was concerned with unemployment (25%) and insecurity (25%) while corruption stood at 5% and inflation 1%. However seven years later insecurity and inflation are paramount with 34% and 13%, corruption 8% and employment concern is down to 7%.

• Monday, September 9th 2013 - 02:33 UTC

  Former foreign minister Taiana returns to politics next to Cristina Fernandez

  

  Argentine former foreign minister Jorge Taiana was named candidate to lead President Cristina Fernandez’ Victory Front to the Buenos Aires City Legislature. Although Taiana’s name had been rumoured, the move was the biggest surprise in the countdown to the Saturday midnight deadline to register candidates to run in October’s mid term election.

• Monday, September 9th 2013 - 02:29 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez now refers to the IMF chief as “Madame (Christine) Lagarde”

  

  IMF Managing Director ‘Madame (Christine) Lagarde’ had words of support for Argentina’s position in the dispute with ‘vulture’ (hedge) funds during an informal encounter with Argentine officials on the sidelines of the recent G20 summit in Russia.