Politics

• Thursday, April 21st 2011 - 06:18 UTC

  Syria lifts 50 year emergency rule but permission is needed for demonstrations

  

  The Syrian authorities' arrest of a leftist opposition figure overnight suggests that a bill passed by the government to end emergency rule after 48 years will not halt repression, rights campaigners said.

• Thursday, April 21st 2011 - 03:20 UTC

  Chile looking for a new icebreaker to strengthen presence in Antarctica

  

  The Chilean Navy icebreaker is scheduled to be decommissioned in four years time so “we are in the task of considering a replacement” revealed Third Naval Zone Commander Rear Admiral Rafael Gonzalez during a press conference in Punta Arenas to review results of the last Antarctic season.

• Thursday, April 21st 2011 - 03:14 UTC

  Brazilian central bank raises benchmark rate 0.25 percentage points to 12%

  

  Brazil’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rates a quarter of a percentage point from 11.75% to 12%. The decision surprised the market since it was a smaller raise than two previous hikes of half a percentage point earlier this year.

• Wednesday, April 20th 2011 - 02:27 UTC

  Brazil trusts the Fed will end liquidity program in July thus boosting the US dollar

  

  Brazil believes the impact of an undervalued US dollar which is appreciating other currencies such as the Brazilian Real, ‘won’t last long’ according to forecasts from Finance Minister Guido Mantega.

• Wednesday, April 20th 2011 - 02:19 UTC

  China urges US to adopt “responsible measures” to guarantee investors interests

  

  China, the top holder of U.S. Treasury bonds, urged the United States Tuesday to adopt “responsible measures” after ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut the outlook on U.S. sovereign debt to negative.

• Tuesday, April 19th 2011 - 21:55 UTC

  Falklands’ war book reveals Israel’s arms and equipment support for Argentina

  

  Israel’s role during the 1982 Falkland Islands conflict as a willing supplier of arms, equipment and other materials to Argentina has been revealed in a book titled “Operation Israel: the rearming of Argentina during the dictatorship (1976/1983)” written by Hernan Dobry, with an advance published over the weekend in Buenos Aires daily La Nacion.

• Tuesday, April 19th 2011 - 17:30 UTC

  Uruguay admits to IMF concern over inflation, but rejects capital flow controls

  

  Uruguay’s concern with inflation risks and instruments to ‘mitigate’ its impact was underlined by the region’s representative at the IMF Monetary and Financial Committee meeting in Washington where the IMF and World Bank are holding their spring meetings.

• Tuesday, April 19th 2011 - 13:53 UTC

  Argentina joins manufacturing of Brazil’s KC 390 jet powered military transport

  

  Brazil and Argentina aircraft industries have signed a partnership contract for the manufacturing of the Embraer KC 390, a medium sized twin engine jet powered military transport aircraft with a 23 tons capacity.

• Tuesday, April 19th 2011 - 04:57 UTC

  Private property returns after 50 years: Cubans allowed to buy and sell their homes

  

  Cuba says it will allow people to buy and sell their homes for the first time since the communist revolution in 1959. For the past 50 years, Cubans have only been allowed to pass on their homes to their children, or to swap them through a complicated and often corrupt system.

• Tuesday, April 19th 2011 - 04:41 UTC

  Falklands’ explosives disposal team has dealt with 2.8 million ordnance items in 29 years

  

  After almost twenty nine years of service to the Falkland Islands the Joint Services Explosive Ordnance Disposal team based at Hillside Camp in the capital Stanley will be transferring its service to JSEOD teams based at the Mount Pleasant Complex.