Politics

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 01:10 UTC

  EC with “no powers to intervene” in Spain/Gibraltar bay fishing dispute

  

  The European Commission has told a South West of England and Gibraltar Member of the European Parliament that it has no powers to intervene in the ongoing standoffs at sea between local law enforcement agencies and the Guardia Civil.

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 01:01 UTC

  Germany wants Google to pay fees to the media for displaying news headlines

  

  The German government approved this week a controversial bill that would require Internet search engine companies such as Google to pay fees to the German media for displaying news headlines on their websites.

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 00:56 UTC

  Piñera promised an end to police brutality during student protest marches

  

  Chilean President Sebastian Piñera said that his government would not tolerate police brutality. The remarks came after the police was accused of mistreating student protesters who were demanding educational reforms.

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 00:49 UTC

  Brazilian federal workers accept proposal and return to work next Monday

  

  Unions representing 90% of Brazil's striking federal public workers have agreed to return to work on Monday, accepting tough terms set by President Dilma Rousseff, who insisted on putting fiscal discipline over the demands of her own political base.

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 00:42 UTC

  Ecuadorian columnist sentenced to jail and million dollars fine granted asylum in the US

  

  A newspaper columnist who fled Ecuador after he was sentenced to jail and ordered to pay millions of dollars in a libel case pushed by President Rafael Correa has been granted asylum in the United States, his lawyer said on Thursday.

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 05:09 UTC

  Chile joins the Colombia/FARC peace talks scheduled to take off in Norway

  

  Cuba will be the permanent seat for the peace dialogue between the government of Colombia and the FARC guerrilla group, talks which will have the support from Norway, Venezuela and Chile according to a broadcasting station from Bogotá.

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 04:55 UTC

  Canada confirms Falklands self determination despite lobbying from companies operating in Argentina

  

  The Canadian government reaffirmed its support of the Falkland Islands and their right to self determination, according to a report from the Canadian edition of The Wall Street Journal.

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 04:50 UTC

  Correa and Assange, “two of a kind” writes Nobel Prize Vargas Llosa

  

  The Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange are “two of a kind” because of the multiple abuses to freedom of expression committed by both, wrote Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa in one of his weekly columns on current affairs.

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 04:43 UTC

  Iran, Venezuela and Egypt, a possible peace troika to address the Syria situation

  

  Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro has welcomed Iran’s proposal for the formation of a troika committee on Syria consisting of Iran, Egypt, and Venezuela

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 04:36 UTC

  China and Germany, world’s exporting giants meet in Beijing to discuss Euro-crisis

  

  German leader Angela Merkel is due to hold top-level talks Thursday on her second visit to China this year, with Europe's debt crisis taking centre stage as it begins to drag on the two global powers.