Politics

• Tuesday, September 18th 2012 - 06:30 UTC

  Rajoy loses the influential leader of the conservative wing of the ruling party

  

  Madrid regional president Esperanza Aguirre, an influential Spanish politician and a leader of the conservative wing of the ruling centre-right People's Party (PP), resigned on Monday in a surprise announcement.

• Tuesday, September 18th 2012 - 06:17 UTC

  Brazil begins rebuilding Antarctic base destroyed by deadly fire last February

  

  Three navy supply ships will head for Antarctica next month to begin rebuilding a Brazilian naval base destroyed by a deadly fire in February, Defence Minister Celso Amorim said Monday.

• Tuesday, September 18th 2012 - 05:53 UTC

  Paraguay and Syria excluded from South America/Arab countries leaders summit in Peru

  

  The third summit of leaders from South America and Arab Countries, ASPA, will take place in Lima, Peru next 1 and 2 October but without the attendance of Paraguay and Syria which have been suspended from their respective blocks, according to Peruvian Deputy Foreign Minister Jose Beráun.

• Monday, September 17th 2012 - 18:29 UTC

  Falklands’ referendum will send strong message to world public opinion

  

  The Falkland Islands don’t expect Argentina to accept the results of the coming referendum, but will show the rest of the world, particularly South and Central America that the Islands are a democracy and have the right to self determination, said Falklands’ lawmakers in an interview with the Mexican newspaper Excelsior.

• Monday, September 17th 2012 - 05:48 UTC

  Spain dumps Paraguay from the Ibero-American summit not to offend Argentina

  

  A top Spanish official made a low profile and unexpected visit to Paraguay last week with the purpose of trying to convince the administration of president Federico Franco to remain absent from the coming Ibero-American summit scheduled for November since Madrid fears his presence could turn the event into a failure.

• Monday, September 17th 2012 - 05:43 UTC

  Brazil’s ‘trial of the century’ culprits point to Lula da Silva as “the chief”

  

  Former Brazilian president Lula da Silva was “the chief” of the corruption network the ruling Workers Party had organized to have sufficient votes in Congress, according to a report published in the weekly Veja, the magazine with the largest circulation in the country.

• Monday, September 17th 2012 - 05:37 UTC

  Venezuela and Argentina sign 24 agreements in the oil-food industries

  

  Venezuela and Argentina signed three institutional agreements and 24 among corporations during the two-day First Meeting for the Venezuela-Argentina Petro-industrial development with the purpose of intensifying trade, investment and cooperation between the two countries.

• Monday, September 17th 2012 - 05:32 UTC

  FCO outlines issues and calls for restraint ‘on all sides’ in Gibraltar/Spain fishing dispute

  

  The upholding of British sovereignty and protecting Gibraltar’s interests are the key issues for Governor Sir Adrian Johns in the current fishing dispute involving Spanish fishermen and the Spanish authorities.

• Monday, September 17th 2012 - 02:54 UTC

  Brazil trusts the Venezuelan electoral process will be “credible and transparent”

  

  Brazil said it is confident that the electoral process in Venezuela, where Chavez is bidding for another six years will be “credible and transparent”. Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota made the statement in an interview published on Sunday by O Estado de Sao Paulo.

• Monday, September 17th 2012 - 02:47 UTC

  Experts close to President Rousseff warn of a “real estate bubble” in Brazil

  

  A team of experts working for the administration of President Dilma Rousseff has warned of the existence of a “real estate burble” in Brazil with the value of houses soaring 165% in Rio do Janeiro and 132% in Sao Paulo in the last four years.