
Latin America’s first museum dedicated to The Beatles opens in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires on January 3 and will display the “treasures” of the greatest collector of objects paraphernalia from the Liverpool quartet.

Chileans are increasingly choosing to have just one child, a tendency that reflects changes in Chilean society and the fall in the fertility rate, local media reported recently.

President Jose Mujica described as a “formidable gesture” the Argentine government’s decision to facilitate the export of grains and fodder to Uruguay which in under an “agriculture emergency” because of a severe drought that threatens much of the cattle to the north of the country.

The Chilean Senate Committee on Fisheries approved the project that modifies the Fisheries Law and severe establishes penalties for illegal catches in the Antarctic convergence area. The next step is a vote on the floor that seems secured given the committee’s outcome.

China’s central bank raised interest rates for the second time in less than three months as authorities ramp up efforts to curb borrowing, rein in property prices and tame inflation.

South Africa has been formally asked to join the BRIC group of major emerging markets, comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China, according to a statement on the web from China’s Foreign Affairs minister Yang Jiechi.

The Ecuadorean government is the latest in Latin American to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that President Rafael Correa officially recognized Palestine on Friday as free and independent, with its borders since 1967 before the Israeli occupation.

Flyglobespan, the airline that had a contract with the UK Ministry of Defence to cover the twice weekly shuttle to the Falkland Islands and collapsed a year ago, is facing a £4 million claim from former staff over its failure to consult on redundancies.

President Jose Mujica is an “emblematic” figure at regional level and is one of the great assets of Uruguay’s foreign policy, said Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro on making a review of the first ten months of the administration.

*By Gwynne Dyer - South Korea’s Defence minister, Kim Tae-Young, was forced to resign after criticism that he was too slow to respond when North Korea attacked the island of Yeonpeong killing at least four people. But what was he supposed to do? What can his replacement, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kim Kwan-jin, do?