Politics

• Wednesday, October 31st 2012 - 23:01 UTC

  Falklands’ proposed referendum question enters public consultation period

  

  The Falkland Islands government has opened a public consultation on the proposed referendum question on the Falklands Political Status to be held in early 2013. The proposed question was arrived at and agreed by all members of the Legislative Assembly having received expert advice on the issue.

• Wednesday, October 31st 2012 - 22:41 UTC

  Falklands’ flag flies at Parliament Square to mark a British state occasion

  

  For the first time, the 16 flags of the British Overseas Territories including the Falkland Islands are being flown in Parliament Square, alongside the flags of the Crown Dependencies, to mark a state occasion, reports an official release from the Foreign Office.

• Wednesday, October 31st 2012 - 20:22 UTC

  Iran/Argentina dialogue ‘positive’ and will continue end of November, says Timerman

  

  Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman announced at Government House in Buenos Aires that new negotiations between diplomatic representatives of Argentina and Iran over the investigation into the 1994 AMIA terrorist attack, will take place before the end of November.

• Wednesday, October 31st 2012 - 20:12 UTC

  Mercosur members, except Paraguay, de-listed from EU import preference scheme

  

  The European Union issued on Wednesday its revised import preference scheme - known as the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) - for developing countries most in need which will take effect from 1 January 2014, revealing that all Mercosur full members, except for Paraguay, will no longer benefit.

• Wednesday, October 31st 2012 - 18:12 UTC

  Council of Europe promotes personal data protection in Latin America

  

  The Council of Europe is promoting international co-operation in the field of personal data protection, in particular by encouraging non member states to ratify the Convention for the protection of individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, also known as Convention 108. Uruguay has started the process for its ratification and therefore may become the first non-Council of Europe member state to accede to the convention.

• Wednesday, October 31st 2012 - 06:56 UTC

  Bolivia asks Sean Penn to help lobby in the dispute with Chile over a sea outlet

  

  Bolivia asked visiting Oscar-winner Sean Penn Tuesday to help lobby for La Paz to regain a bit of Pacific coast, and escape the ranks of landlocked states. Evo Morales, the populist president of the arid nation high in the Andes, asked the US actor to help its campaign to press Chile to overhaul treaties that ended a 19th-century war that cost Bolivia its coast and gave the land to Chile.

• Wednesday, October 31st 2012 - 04:51 UTC

  Argentine-Iran dialogue is ‘over’, says Jewish community rejecting Teheran’s denial of any involvement

  

  The president of the Argentine Jewish Community centre, AMIA, Guillermo Borger said that if Iran insists in rejecting any links with the 1994 attack in which 85 people were killed and 300 injured, the current dialogue between Argentina and Teheran on the issue “is over”.

• Wednesday, October 31st 2012 - 04:44 UTC

  S&P lowers Argentina’s rating, as credit-default insurance soars to highest in the world

  

  Argentina’s credit rating was cut one level by Standard & Poor’s, which referred to a US appeals court ruling that prevents the country from honouring its debt without also paying holders of its defaulted bonds.

• Wednesday, October 31st 2012 - 04:38 UTC

  Chilean municipal elections are anticipating a return of the left-wing coalition

  

  Chilean voters punished the political system with a whooping 60% abstention, and President Sebastián Piñera’s conservative bloc, in municipal elections Sunday, which could be paving the way for the comeback of the left-wing coalition in next year’s presidential ballot.

• Wednesday, October 31st 2012 - 04:16 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez with a bout of low blood pressure cancels public activities

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernández was forced to cancel Tuesday’s agenda for 24 hours after doctors diagnosed her with low blood pressure. The president remained at the Olivos residence where, nevertheless she dispatched some daily business with a few ministers.