Politics

• Monday, July 9th 2012 - 18:13 UTC

  Euro zone to tighten financial regulation following the Libor rigging scandal

  

  Michel Barnier, the European commissioner in charge of financial regulation, is expected to bring forward changes to his market abuse directive and regulation within in the next weeks, the Financial Times said on Monday.

• Monday, July 9th 2012 - 18:04 UTC

  BoE Tucker denies making any suggestions to Barclays on the Libor (in 2008)

  

  The deputy governor of the Bank of England (BoE) has said he did not give Barclays instructions to lower its Libor submissions in 2008. Paul Tucker said no government minister had asked him to “lean on” Barclays over its inter-bank lending rates. But he also told MPs that the BoE and the government feared that Barclays may need a bailout.

• Monday, July 9th 2012 - 12:45 UTC

  Bolivia: Indigenous rioting threaten Canadian mining company with nationalization

  

  Bolivia will consider nationalizing Canadian miner South American Silver Corp's silver property, President Evo Morales said on Sunday, following violent indigenous protests against the mining project.

• Monday, July 9th 2012 - 12:26 UTC

  France and Germany re-enact De Gaulle/Adenauer peace and reconciliation pact

  

  The leaders of France and Germany joined in a symbolic celebration of unity, hailing a relationship that has brought peace to Europe for 50 years but must now prove it can survive its most serious crisis to date.

• Monday, July 9th 2012 - 12:22 UTC

  Majority of Spaniards say Gibraltar is and issue of little interest for foreign policy

  

  A survey by the leading Spanish think tank Real Instituto Elcano has found that nearly 60% of those polled believe Gibraltar is of little or no importance to Spanish foreign policy.

• Monday, July 9th 2012 - 06:17 UTC

  Peña Nieto confirmed as Mexican president but won’t have majority in Congress

  

  Enrique Peña Nieto won Mexico's July 1 presidential election by 3.3 million ballots, or almost 7 percentage points, although allegations of excessive campaign spending and voter fraud could be reviewed by the electoral tribunal, officials said.

• Monday, July 9th 2012 - 06:13 UTC

  UK Serious Fraud Office investigating the rigging of the Libor rate

  

  The United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has confirmed that it has formally launched an investigation into the rigging of inter-bank lending rates. The case could lead to criminal charges being brought against individuals.

• Monday, July 9th 2012 - 06:05 UTC

  Influential Brazilian banker says further weakening of the Real “would be better”

  

  Luciano Coutinho president of Brazil’s state development bank BNDES, said the country has benefited from the recent weakening of its currency and a further drop would be better, according to newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo.

• Monday, July 9th 2012 - 05:59 UTC

  Chavez announces trip to Brazil for Venezuela’s formal admission to Mercosur

  

  President Hugo Chavez said he will be attending at the end of July the coming Mercosur meeting in Brasil when Venezuela will officially become the group’s fifth full member, a decision that has proved controversial and exposed differences inside the Common Market of the South.

• Monday, July 9th 2012 - 05:51 UTC

  Brazilian Air Force delays for another six months bidding for huge contract

  

  Brazilian Air Force has asked bidders to renew their offers on a contract to provide 36 next-generation fighter jets, extending for six months a race between US, French and Swedish contestants.