Politics

• Wednesday, June 30th 2010 - 06:03 UTC

  Berlusconi says Lula da Silva should run again for president in 2014

  

  Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, expressed his support for the idea that Brazilian President Lula da Silva should run for president once again in the Brazilian presidential elections of 2014.

• Wednesday, June 30th 2010 - 05:57 UTC

  Six decades since splitting China and Taiwan sign milestone trade pact

  

  China and Taiwan have signed a historic trade pact, seen as the most significant agreement since civil war split the two governments 60 years ago. The Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement (ECFA) removes tariffs on hundreds of products. It could boost bilateral trade that already totals 110 billion US dollars a year.

• Wednesday, June 30th 2010 - 05:50 UTC

  US dollar should be replaced by a more stable system, says UN report

  

  The US dollar is an unreliable international currency and should be replaced by a more stable system, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs said in a report released Tuesday.

• Wednesday, June 30th 2010 - 05:41 UTC

  Falklands MPA will undergo six months of resurfacing; air bridge confirmed

  

  Two Boeing 767-300s have been confirmed as the aircraft to be used for the South Atlantic Airbridge linking Brize Norton in the UK with the Falkland Islands while the Mount Pleasant runway is being resurfaced later this year.

• Wednesday, June 30th 2010 - 05:31 UTC

  Lula da Silva anticipates World Cup semi-finals with four Mercosur members

  

  Brazilian President Lula da Silva said on Tuesday he expects the four Mercosur countries Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay to meet in the semi-finals of the World Cup in South Africa.

• Wednesday, June 30th 2010 - 05:19 UTC

  UK Pavilion has won Royal Institute of British Architects’ Lubetkin Prize

  

  The UK Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010 has scooped the prestigious RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects’) Lubetkin Prize for the most outstanding work of architecture outside the European Union by a RIBA member.

• Tuesday, June 29th 2010 - 05:38 UTC

  Obama to host 18 African nations’ 50th independence celebration

  

  US president Barack Obama whose father was from Kenya will be hosting next August a major event to celebrate the 50 years of independence of eighteen African countries, according to US sources.

• Tuesday, June 29th 2010 - 05:09 UTC

  Lion’s share of the drugs business goes to final distributors, says UN expert

  

  The lion’s share (85%) of the gross profits from the cocaine business between South America and the United States ends in the wholesale and retail distribution network in the US according to Antonio Luigi Mazzitelli, head of the UN office on Drugs and Crime for Mexico and Central America.

• Tuesday, June 29th 2010 - 05:04 UTC

  European crisis ‘key risk’ for UK banking sector, warns Bank of England

  

  The European debt crisis is a “key risk” to the UK's banking sector and banks should build up their cash reserves in response, the Bank of England has warned. In its latest financial stability report, the central bank welcomed recent measures taken by the EU to stem the crisis.

• Monday, June 28th 2010 - 22:56 UTC

  Brazil willing to support Argentina and Uruguay in joint river monitoring

  

  Brazil is willing to help Argentina and Uruguay with the joint monitoring of the River Uruguay which is at the heart of a pulp mill standing dispute between both countries. Argentina and Uruguay Foreign Affairs ministers are scheduled to meet Tuesday in Montevideo to address the issue.