Politics

• Monday, February 14th 2011 - 06:19 UTC

  Brazil consolidates defence and military links with Argentina and Uruguay

  

  Brazilian Defence minister Nelson Jobim begins this week a tour of neighbouring Mercosur partners where he is scheduled to sign a statement underlining the strategic relation with Argentina, and further on Uruguay’s interest in military cooperation and equipment.

• Monday, February 14th 2011 - 06:11 UTC

  Colombian president supports legalizing drugs if it reduces violence and crime

  

  Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said in an interview published Sunday that he could consider legalizing drugs as a way to reduce violence and crime in his country. He joins a list of prominent Latinamerican leaders who are promoting the initiative.

• Monday, February 14th 2011 - 05:55 UTC

  Whaling shipwreck linked to “Moby Dick” discovered offshore Hawai

  

  US marine archaeologists have found the sunken whaling ship belonging to the captain who inspired Herman Melville's classic 19th Century novel, Moby Dick. The remains of the vessel, the Two Brothers was found in shallow waters off Hawaii.

• Monday, February 14th 2011 - 05:48 UTC

  Alleging national security, China plans to review foreign attempts to buy local companies

  

  China is launching a body to review foreign attempts to buy local companies in a move that might add to strains over access to its markets.

• Monday, February 14th 2011 - 03:49 UTC

  Kirchner told banks to “make cheap loans and mortgages” in 2007 presidential campaign

  

  The Spanish newspaper El Pais published new Wikileaks cables of the US embassy which mention the relationship between Argentina’s Kirchners ruling couple and the banks especially during the period previous to the presidential election of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007).

• Monday, February 14th 2011 - 03:40 UTC

  UK frauds’ office looking for Mubarak’s cash and assets, says Sunday Times

  

  A British government minister said on Sunday there should be an international approach to dealing with the overseas assets of deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his family.

• Monday, February 14th 2011 - 03:36 UTC

  Argentines accept inflation is in the range of 25%, but divided on the causes

  

  A majority of Argentines, 74%, believes that inflation is harming their finances and a similar percentage, 74%, considers the administration of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is hardly interested in the issue, according to a public opinion poll published Sunday in Buenos Aires La Nacion.

• Saturday, February 12th 2011 - 12:44 UTC

  Unilateral Fact II

  

  Mr. Andres Cisneros’s reply to the article “Unilateral Facts” by Dr. Graham Pascoe and myself last Sunday in the BA Herald, (Jan 21st and Feb 6th in MP), does not answer our points adequately. Our article was specifically about Argentina’s hypocrisy in using UN Resolution 31/49 to criticise Britain’s acts as “unilateral”. Instead he launches a general anti-British diatribe, and makes a number of errors. The worst are as follows.

• Saturday, February 12th 2011 - 08:12 UTC

  “Limits must be imposed” on Latinamerican presidential successive re-election

  

  The Organization of American States, (OAS), Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said that democracy must impose limits on Latin America’s presidential successive re-election tendency.

• Saturday, February 12th 2011 - 08:08 UTC

  IMF calls for fiscal austerity in South America but admits “dilemmas”

  

  IMF warned inflation is threatening South America but also admitted countries had a dilemma since increasing interest rates could further worsen the appreciation of local currencies vis-à-vis the US dollar.