Politics

• Saturday, July 2nd 2011 - 05:56 UTC

  Chinese president warns corruption is eroding the Communist party grip

  

  Chinese President Hu Jintao has issued a mea culpa for rampant corruption in the ruling Communist Party, warning members about alienating the public as the organisation celebrates its 90th anniversary.

• Saturday, July 2nd 2011 - 05:50 UTC

  “Cooling the economy or appreciating the currency” backfire for developing countries

  

  Central bank president Mercedes Marcó del Pont defended on Friday Argentina’s current economic policies, particularly efforts to address the international crisis arguing that “cooling the economy or letting the currency appreciate only aggravates the crisis”.

• Saturday, July 2nd 2011 - 05:38 UTC

  Bolivia apologizes to Argentine Jewish community for inviting Iranian official

  

  Bolivian president Evo Morales apologized to the Argentine Jewish community for having received on an official visit the Iranian Defence minister Ahmad Vahido, who is wanted by the Argentine justice system for his alleged involvement in the 1994 anti-Semite attack in Buenos Aires.

• Saturday, July 2nd 2011 - 05:23 UTC

  Former IMF chief case rapidly becoming a Mexican soap opera

  

  Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was freed on Friday from house arrest after prosecutors raised serious doubts about his accuser's credibility, including that she lied to the grand jury.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 15:31 UTC

  EU and Mercosur resume ‘formal’ trade negotiations next week

  

  European Union and Mercosur delegates are scheduled to meet next week in Brussels for another round of negotiations with the purpose of reaching a trade agreement.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 06:39 UTC

  Philip Morris launches legal action against Australia; similar to Uruguayan case

  

  Tobacco giant Philip Morris International launched legal action this week against the Australian government over the country's plans to strip company logos from cigarette packages and replace them with grisly images of cancerous mouths, sickly children and bulging, blinded eyes.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 06:20 UTC

  EU paymasters reject point blank proposal for a 5% budget hike

  

  The European Commission’s request for a 5% hike in member states’ contributions in the next EU budget met immediate resistance from big countries such as Germany, France and Britain yesterday.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 03:26 UTC

  Chávez from Cuba tells Venezuela he is undergoing cancer treatment

  

  Doctors detected and removed a cancerous tumor from Hugo Chavez's body, the Venezuelan president announced in a speech broadcast on state-run VTV Thursday night.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 02:03 UTC

  Brazilian judge approves first gay marriage in the country

  

  A Brazilian judge approved what is considered to be the country’s first gay marriage. Sao Paulo state Judge Fernando Henrique Pinto ruled on Wednesday two men could convert their civil union into a full marriage.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 01:48 UTC

  Brazil and Japan allege over 100 countries support UN Security Council reform

  

  Foreign Affairs ministers from Brazil and Japan announced that over 100 nations have expressed support for a proposal to expand the United Nations Security Council.