Politics

• Thursday, December 20th 2012 - 06:19 UTC

  “Madame President: pls address inflation and rampant crime” demands Argentine organized labour

  

  Argentine dissident organized labour concentrated at the emblematic Plaza de Mayo and claimed the government of Cristina Fernandez was applying IMF recipes by halting wage hikes for workers and called on the Lady to address inflation and rampant crime.

• Thursday, December 20th 2012 - 06:02 UTC

  Record killing of journalists doing their jobs in 2012, according to RSF

  

  More journalists were killed doing their job in 2012 than in any year since monitoring started 17 years ago, with Syria and Somalia seeing a particularly heavy toll followed by Pakistan and Mexico, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Wednesday.

• Thursday, December 20th 2012 - 05:45 UTC

  Brazil re-launches industry to develop high precision rockets and missiles

  

  Brazil is pursuing a multimillion-dollar program to revive and modernize its precision strike technologies with the aim of developing rockets and missiles both for domestic military use and exports.

• Thursday, December 20th 2012 - 05:38 UTC

  Brazil to investigate corruption allegations involving Lula da Silva

  

  Brazil’s Attorney General said the country’s judiciary will investigate allegations that former President Lula da Silva took part in the cash-for-votes scheme that toppled several of his closest aides.

• Thursday, December 20th 2012 - 05:33 UTC

  Ecuador Central bank governor resigns admitting he has no Economics degree

  

  Ecuador's central bank president, Pedro Delgado, resigned on Wednesday after admitting that he did not hold a university degree in economics.

• Wednesday, December 19th 2012 - 23:17 UTC

  Argentine government appeals to Supreme Court on the Media Law case

  

  Argentine Justice Minister Julio Alak announced the government presented the “per saltum” recourse before the Supreme Court as it seeks to put an end to the case over the constitutionality of the Media Law’s divestment article.

• Wednesday, December 19th 2012 - 23:10 UTC

  ARA Libertad is in the high seas; great reception in Mar del Plata on 9 January

  

  The Argentine Navy flagship ARA Libertad set sail for Mar del Plata on Wednesday four days after a UN court ordered its release from the Tema port in Accra, Ghana, following a 77 day embargo (since 2 October) due to a claim by vulture fund NML Capital.

• Wednesday, December 19th 2012 - 20:25 UTC

  UBS fined in US, UK and Switzerland for manipulating the Libor rate

  

  Swiss banking giant UBS has agreed to pay 1.5bn dollars to US, UK and Swiss regulators for attempting to manipulate the Libor inter-bank lending rate. It becomes the second major bank to be fined over Libor after Barclays was ordered to pay 450m to UK and US authorities in the summer.

• Wednesday, December 19th 2012 - 19:48 UTC

  Major operation dismantles Euro and dollar counterfeit banknote printing in Peru

  

  A combined operation involving police forces from Peru, Spain, US Secret Service and Europol dismantled on Wednesday a counterfeit banknote print shop in Lima and arrested one suspect.

• Wednesday, December 19th 2012 - 19:43 UTC

  President Obama re-election feat makes him TIME Person of the Year

  

  US President Barack Obama was named TIME Person of the Year for 2012, citing his historic re-election last month as symbolic of the nation's changing demographics amid the backdrop of high unemployment and other challenges.