Politics

• Monday, September 2nd 2013 - 19:41 UTC

  Argentina and Brazil pointed out by Europe for protectionist practices

  

  Global efforts to battle trade protectionism need to be reinforced to help shield the fragile economic recovery across the world said a report released on Monday by the European Commission in which it claims Brazil and Argentina are among the main offenders when it comes to import duties hikes and government procurement limitations.

• Monday, September 2nd 2013 - 19:23 UTC

  Falklands’ lawmaker underlines that “self-governance” is achievable and points to March referendum

  

  Falkland Islands’ lawmaker Roger Edwards said that ‘self-governance or sovereignty was achievable’ and pointed out to the March 2013 referendum when an overwhelming majority of the Falklands’ people decided to support the current sovereign status.

• Monday, September 2nd 2013 - 19:11 UTC

  Foreign Secretary Hague updates Parliament on the Gibraltar/Spain conflict

  

  British Foreign Secretary William Hague in an update to Parliament on the Spain/Gibraltar situation (border delays and illegal incursions into BGTW) said that the UK government continues to collect evidence of the Spanish disproportionate unlawful border measures, to share with the European Commission before their monitoring mission arrives and is also keeping under review the option of taking direct legal action against the Spanish Government.

• Monday, September 2nd 2013 - 12:54 UTC

  Application period for UK Chevening scholarships opens in Montevideo

  

  The British Embassy Montevideo and Uruguay’s National Research and Innovation Agency signed an agreement to triple the number of scholarships.

• Monday, September 2nd 2013 - 12:35 UTC

  Venezuela and Guyana agree to resume border dispute negotiations under UN umbrella

  

  Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ended a one-day visit to Guyana on Saturday in a move that strengthens the relationship between the two countries that have had a long standing border dispute. The two countries have agreed to ask the Jamaica-born academic, Professor Norman Girvan to continue as the United Nations (UN) Good Officer as they seek to settle their border dispute.

• Monday, September 2nd 2013 - 12:17 UTC

  Majority of Britons support government policy on Gibraltar according to Spanish poll

  

  The dispute over Gibraltar figures low on the list of priorities for the average Spaniard, despite widespread media coverage and the fact that it taps into common feelings of national pride and identity, according to a survey conducted by the leading Spanish think tank Real Instituto Elcano both in Spain and the UK, and released on Sunday

• Monday, September 2nd 2013 - 12:00 UTC

  Maduro apologizes to Paraguay for any ‘pain’ caused and promises ‘to repair the error’

  

  Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro apologized to his peer Paraguayan peer Horacio Cartes for any ‘pain’ caused to Paraguay and promised a ‘sacrifice’ to repair the ‘error’, according to sources from both presidents and from Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff who sponsored the meeting between the two heads of state in the framework of the recent Unasur VII summit in Suriname.

• Saturday, August 31st 2013 - 18:54 UTC

  Major change in US drugs policy: allows recreational cannabis on a ‘trust but verify’ approach

  

  President Barack Obama's administration ceded ground last week in the US war on drugs, saying it will not dispute the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington states. The decision was swiftly hailed by campaigners for the legalization of a substance that, under federal law, remains a Schedule One controlled substance on a par with heroin.

• Saturday, August 31st 2013 - 18:03 UTC

  Unasur embarrassment: Suriname president’s son arrested by US on drug and arms trafficking

  

  Suriname opposition legislators have called on President Desi Bouterse to resign as well as to clarify the circumstances surrounding the arrest of his son by United States law enforcement authorities in Panama earlier this week.

• Saturday, August 31st 2013 - 17:46 UTC

  Santos orders troops to patrol Bogotá as farm-protest reaches the capital

  

  President Juan Manuel Santos ordered troops to patrol Bogota and Colombia's highways on Friday, after violent protests in support of striking farmworkers left two dead.