Politics

• Thursday, August 29th 2013 - 23:54 UTC

  Falklands’ Noble Energy exploring for oil in disputed Caribbean waters supported by Nicaragua

  

  On 17 July, Nicaragua announced that US-based Noble Energy would invest 30 million dollars in drilling two offshore wells in the Caribbean—launching Nicaragua's first-ever oil exploration.

• Thursday, August 29th 2013 - 03:50 UTC

  Uruguay’s first lady praises Cristina Fernandez and blast opposition

  

  Uruguay’s First Lady and Senator Lucia Topolansky said that for her fellow countrymen having a dispute with Argentina is “like fighting with yourself” and described as ‘painful’ the several years long conflict between the two countries over the construction of the UPM (former Botnia) pulp mill on a shared river.

• Thursday, August 29th 2013 - 03:17 UTC

  China calls for restraint in Syria and says military intervention can only worsen the crisis

  

  China's foreign minister urged restraint in the growing tensions over Syria, saying any military intervention in the crisis would only worsen turmoil in the Middle East. China all along has tried to maintain a neutral position on the issue, not accompanying the West’s intentions of imposing sanctions to Syria but calling on Damascus to begin talking with the rebels.

• Thursday, August 29th 2013 - 02:56 UTC

  Argentine judge blocks hangar eviction of Lan from Buenos Aires air terminal

  

  An Argentine judge on Wednesday granted an injunction blocking the eviction of LAN Argentina, a unit of Chile-based LATAM Airlines Group, from its hangar at Buenos Aires Jorge Newbery Airport, which handles domestic and regional flights.

• Thursday, August 29th 2013 - 02:27 UTC

  Gibraltar will bring in construction materials by sea, skirting Spanish ban

  

  Gibraltar will sidestep an ‘illegal’ Spanish ban on overland cross-border shipments of rock, sand and aggregates by shipping the vital building materials in by sea. The ban was announced at the weekend by the Spanish authorities, which are denying export permission for these commodities and say they are being used to reclaim land in breach of EU environmental rules.

• Thursday, August 29th 2013 - 01:57 UTC

  OAS recalls Martin Luther King’s historic speech “I have a dream”

  

  The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza recalled on Wednesday the 50 years since the historic address by the great civil rights leader in the United States, Martin Luther King, “in which he shared his dream of inclusion and his will to put an end to racial discrimination using non-violent means.”

• Thursday, August 29th 2013 - 01:42 UTC

  Obama honours 50 anniversary of March on Washington and the ‘I have a dream’ speech

  

  Addressing hundreds of thousands of people commemorating on Wednesday the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for civil rights, US President Barack Obama underlined the “unfinished business” in the struggle for equality and justice in America

• Thursday, August 29th 2013 - 01:02 UTC

  Unasur summit will formally receive Paraguay at its summit in Suriname

  

  Unasur leaders will welcome Paraguay’s return to the group and will honour the memory of deceased Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez during this week’s summit in Suriname that will be taking the chair of the group from Peru.

• Wednesday, August 28th 2013 - 21:56 UTC

  Brazil raises benchmark interest to 9% hoping to rein in inflation

  

  Brazil raised on Wednesday its Selic benchmark interest rate to 9% from 8.5% in a further attempt to rein in inflation. The central bank's monetary policy committee, the Copom, voted unanimously for a third straight half percentage point rate rise.

• Wednesday, August 28th 2013 - 14:24 UTC

  EU Home Affairs Commissioner heads mission to examine Spanish controls at Gibraltar border

  

  Cecilia Malmstrom, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, will be heading the mission tasked with examining border controls imposed on Gibraltar by Spain while a second mission will address the ‘customs dimension’ issue, the European Commission has confirmed. British authorities will be involved in the EC probe of the Gibraltar frontier as will Spanish officials but no date for the visit has been set though it is expected within a few weeks.