Politics

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 21:06 UTC

  Royal Navy preparing young explorers to re-edit Scott’s Antarctica saga in 2012

  

  Budding explorers inspired by Royal Navy Captain Robert Scott of the Antarctic, have had the chance to prove that they have got what it takes to follow in his footsteps during an exercise held at HMS Raleigh this week.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 20:33 UTC

  Peruvian presidential run-off between Humala and Keiko Fujimori, forecast polls

  

  Nationalist presidential candidate Ollanta Humala is forecast to get just under 30% of the vote in Peru's election on Sunday and face lawmaker Keiko Fujimori in a run-off, sources with access to two different polls said on Thursday.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 20:14 UTC

  Messi’s Facebook page collects 7 million Likes in just a few hours

  

  Few hours after Argentine football star Lionel Messi started a Facebook Page, the Barcelona's striker has almost 7 million Likes.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 19:05 UTC

  Euro zone raises interest rate fearing inflation; “sorry peripheral countries”

  

  Euro-zone interest rates have been raised to 1.25% from the record low of 1% by the European Central Bank (ECB). Interest rates had been held at 1% for just under two years following the financial crisis and global recession.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 18:05 UTC

  In spite of latest measures, Brazil’s ‘currency war’ looks set to rumble on

  

  If recent evidence is anything to go by, Brazil’s latest effort to stem the rise in the Real is unlikely to have a lasting impact on the markets, according to Capital Economics.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 10:15 UTC

  Brazil’s latest effort to stem flood of capital and contain the ‘Mighty Real’

  

  Brazil unveiled Wednesday the latest effort to stem a flood of foreign capital that is driving the local currency sky-high and undermining the competitiveness of the country’s exports. Finance Minister Guido Mantega blamed the currency woes on the Federal Reserve policy that keeps US interest rates near zero.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 10:11 UTC

  Uruguay’s public debt to abandon foreign currencies for local Pesos

  

  Uruguay this year plans to swap part of its foreign-currency bonds for debt denominated in Pesos, said Economy Minister Fernando Lorenzo. Uruguay will also sell Peso securities and use the proceeds to pay off bonds denominated in other currencies, Lorenzo said without providing further details.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 10:06 UTC

  Argentina under pressure to approve anti money-laundering legislation

  

  The Argentine administration of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner called Wednesday on the opposition lawmakers to pass an anti money laundering bill before June other wise Argentina could be black-listed for not having the proper controls.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 09:11 UTC

  Portugal admits the facts, formally requests a bailout from the EU

  

  Portugal's caretaker government said on Wednesday it had decided to seek financing from the European Union in an abrupt turnaround after resisting a bailout for months despite sharply deteriorating financial conditions.

• Thursday, April 7th 2011 - 09:08 UTC

  “If we don’t unite, Cristina beats us with 40% of the vote”, warns Duhalde

  

  Argentina’s presidential hopeful and former caretaker president Eduardo Duhalde warned that if the opposition doesn’t unite, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will defeat them next October 23 and be re-elected for a second four year mandate.