Politics

• Monday, February 18th 2013 - 06:39 UTC

  Scandal-hit Vatican bank tries to make clean start but again stumbles

  

  The Vatican appointed a German lawyer to head its bank, but the bid to turn the fortunes of the scandal-hit institution was clouded by his business links to a military shipbuilder.

• Monday, February 18th 2013 - 06:33 UTC

  Head of Italy’s main defence firm arrested on allegations of corruption in helicopter sales

  

  The chairman and chief executive of the Italian defence firm Finmeccanica, has formally resigned. Giuseppe Orsi was arrested in Italy this week as part of a corruption investigation involving the sale of helicopters to the Indian government. India has started the process of cancelling the 750m dollars contract.

• Monday, February 18th 2013 - 06:23 UTC

  Cuba’s best-known dissident with ‘knees trembling’ makes it through Havana airport without incident

  

  Cuba's best-known dissident, blogger Yoani Sánchez checked in without incident at Havana's international airport on Sunday on her way to Brazil, the first stop on an 80-day-tour of a dozen countries. She was sent off with hugs by a small group of family members and friends.

• Monday, February 18th 2013 - 06:18 UTC

  Mantega anticipates higher interest rate to help keep inflation under control

  

  Brazil’s Finance minister Guido Mantega in Moscow for the G-20 meeting, said that inflation above the government's target raises a yellow flag and that monetary policy, not the exchange rate, is the right tool to control prices.

• Monday, February 18th 2013 - 06:14 UTC

  Brazil deploys elite forces in southern state to contain wave of violent attacks from drug lords

  

  Elite police commando units fanned out across the streets of the Brazilian southern state of Santa Catarina over the weekend in an attempt to contain a wave of violent attacks over the past two weeks.

• Monday, February 18th 2013 - 03:50 UTC

  The postage stamp war for the Falkland Islands

  

  Albert-Friedrich Gruene of the Falkland Island Philatelic Study Group offers a fascinating insight into Britain and Argentina’s use of the postage stamp over the past 77 years in an illustrated ‘battle’ for the Falklands. The article was published in Penguin News.

• Saturday, February 16th 2013 - 21:24 UTC

  Human right activists in Uruguay storm the Supreme Court to protest judge’s transfer

  

  The Uruguayan police evicted dozens of protestors that during three hours occupied the seat of the Supreme Court to impede the transfer of a magistrate, closely linked to human rights cases, from the criminal to the civil forum. Magistrate Mariana Mota has dealt with some of Uruguay’s most notorious human rights cases dating back to the twelve years of military dictatorship, (1973/1985).

• Saturday, February 16th 2013 - 21:05 UTC

  G-20 rejects a ‘currency war’, but global situation too fragile to confirm it in facts

  

  The Group of 20 nations declared there would be no 'currency war' and deferred plans to set new debt-cutting targets in an indication of concern about the fragile state of the world economy.

• Saturday, February 16th 2013 - 20:50 UTC

  Brazilian business community demands the country signs trade accords with third countries

  

  Brazilian businesspeople and diplomats expressed their disappointment with Mercosur and said it was crucial for Brazil to sign free trade agreements on its own with third countries, which under current rules of the South American trade block are not allowed.

• Saturday, February 16th 2013 - 20:39 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez inflation index for January less than half private estimates

  

  Official inflation in Argentina increased 1.1% in January compared to the previous month, Indec national statistics bureau reported on Friday. The hike in prices was led by transport as train and bus fares increased by 6.1%. The annualized rate jumped to 11.1%.