Politics

• Wednesday, September 18th 2013 - 01:55 UTC

  Paraguay expects to return to Mercosur in 2014; Chile offers closer links and access to the Pacific

  

  President Horacio Cartes said that during 2014 links between Paraguay and Mercosur will be fully re-established and by then all the skirmishes motivated by the access of Venezuela as full member of the group, “will be overcome”. However Cartes also mentioned that Paraguay, with support from Chile has a strategic access to the Pacific basin.

• Wednesday, September 18th 2013 - 01:47 UTC

  Mujica to address UN assembly on 28 September; meeting with several Latam presidents

  

  Uruguay’s president Jose Mujica will be attending the UN 68th General Assembly on the last week of September in New York, where he is scheduled to meet with several of his Latinamerica peers and the Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon.

• Wednesday, September 18th 2013 - 01:07 UTC

  British government successfully sells 6% stake at Lloyds and collects £3.2bn

  

  The British government has sold a 6% stake in Lloyds Banking Group at a price of 75p a share, raising £3.2bn. The disposal cuts the government's stake in Lloyds from 38.7% to 32.7% and represents a cash profit of £61m for the Treasury.

• Wednesday, September 18th 2013 - 01:03 UTC

  Chinese luxury cruise vessel pays bond and is released after four days

  

  A Chinese luxury cruise ship impounded in South Korea for days due to a legal dispute has been released and returned to China, an official said Tuesday.

• Wednesday, September 18th 2013 - 00:49 UTC

  Poverty rate in the US steady at 15%, which represents 46.5 million people

  

  The U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday that median household income in the United States in 2012 was 51,017 dollars and the official poverty rate was 15%, which is 2.5 percentage points higher than in 2007. Neither figure represents a statistically significant change from 2011.

• Wednesday, September 18th 2013 - 00:38 UTC

  Brazilean hackers miss their target and attacks NASA instead of NSA

  

  Hackers have hit back in retaliation for US cyber-spying on Brazil but mistook the US space agency NASA for the National Security Agency (NSA), a news website reported here Tuesday.

• Wednesday, September 18th 2013 - 00:27 UTC

  Rousseff postpones state visit to Washington over US cyber-spying allegations

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Tuesday postponed a state visit to Washington over allegations of US cyber-spying on her country. She announced the decision after discussing the spying row with US President Barack Obama Monday in a telephone call.

• Tuesday, September 17th 2013 - 20:55 UTC

  Rugby player Tuilagi apologises to Cameron for 'bunny ears' gesture

  

  Lions rugby centre Manu Tuilagi has apologised for making a 'bunny ears' gesture behind the head of British Prime Minister David Cameron in a photo-call at 10 Downing Street.

• Tuesday, September 17th 2013 - 20:49 UTC

  Brazil completes construction of largest oil offshore platform and can pump 180.000 bpd

  

  A shipyard has completed the construction of the P-55, Brazil's largest offshore oil platform, which will have the capacity to produce 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude, it was announced by officials.

• Tuesday, September 17th 2013 - 07:10 UTC

  Argentina ratifies interest in Mercosur, but Brazil wants negotiations now

  

  The government of President Cristina Fernandez told the business community on Monday that Argentina has an interest in a ‘balanced’ negotiation between Mercosur and the European Union to reach a political, association and trade agreement. However the timetable approach of Argentina does not seem to fit with the rest of Mercosur, mainly Brazil.