Politics

• Tuesday, October 18th 2011 - 02:43 UTC

  Falling profits and Flight 447 tragedy trigger major reshuffle in Air France-KLM

  

  Air France-KLM Group recalled Jean- Cyril Spinetta, 68, as chief executive officer and ousted Pierre-Henri Gourgeon amid slumping earnings and questions regarding the role of pilots in a fatal crash.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 21:53 UTC

  Military draft for 57.000 18-year olds in Chile, alleging students’ disruption

  

  Chile is giving nearly 57.000 18-year-olds one month to report for potential military duty, saying the government needs to fill gaps in its armed forces because a nationwide student protest movement has reduced the number of volunteers it usually gets.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 21:31 UTC

  Former personal surgeon says Chavez has a very aggressive ‘pelvic tumor’

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is undergoing “rigorous” medical exams in Havana where he traveled Sunday night and hopefully will be back in Caracas mid week with “good news”.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 19:08 UTC

  Close links between Social Assistance and presidential vote in Latin America

  

  A paper from the University of Vanderbilt Latin America Public Opinion Project confirms that conditional cash transfers (CCT) by governments from the region condition to a great extent the vote in favour of the incumbent candidate.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 17:39 UTC

  Chile purchasing an 11.300 tons amphibious assault ship from the French navy

  

  France and Chile are in the last stages of the transfer of the amphibious assault ship ‘Foudre’ to replace the decommissioned multipurpose ‘Valdivia’ that was extensively used for the transport of troops and military equipment, reported the Chilean navy.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 17:28 UTC

  Germany warns Greek bondholders will have to accept steeper ‘hair-cut’

  

  Germany lowered expectations of a breakthrough in the Euro zone's sovereign debt crisis next weekend, saying Sunday's EU summit will not produce a final solution, and kept up pressure on banks to accept bigger write-downs on Greek debt.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 17:05 UTC

  Paraguay holds the chair of Unasur as of next October 29

  

  Paraguay will be receiving the pro-tempore chair of Unasur (Union of South American Nations) from Guyana next October 29 during the Ibero-American summit which will be taking place in Asuncion.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 14:27 UTC

  Newcastle barrister takes Senior Magistrate job in Falklands Islands

  

  A barrister is swapping his job in the North East for a top role in the Falkland Islands.
  Carl Gumsley is swapping busy city life for beautiful landscapes and fascinating wildlife as he takes on the role of senor magistrate, reports Journal liveuk.co.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 06:59 UTC

  Brazil Sports minister: next victim of the corruption-exposure campaign?

  

  Brazil’s largest circulation magazine Veja, claimed in its last edition that the Sports Minister Orlando Silva has been involved in corruption actions totalling millions of dollars originally destined to promote sports among children from poor households.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 06:56 UTC

  Primary ballot results indicate Bolivians have turned their backs on Morales

  

  Most Bolivians who voted in Sunday's election to choose the country's top judges cast invalid ballots in what would be a stinging rebuke for President Evo Morales, according to unofficial partial results.