Politics

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 05:22 UTC

  Oil prices ease as OPEC begins talks to increase output replacing Libya

  

  Oil dropped for a second day in New York as members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries considered talks about increasing production because violence is disrupting supplies from Libya.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 05:14 UTC

  Argentina bans inflation from official jargon; inflation of synonyms

  

  Next October Argentines will be going to the polls to vote for president and renew Congress which anticipates a rough political eight months, but before that the administration of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has to weather a round of labour contracts which will be demanding strong adjustments because of the “prices distortion and dispersion” since the word ‘inflation’ has been erased from the official jargon.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 05:10 UTC

  Wikileaks reveals Chilean government changed environment rules to please US interests

  

  Wikileaks cables last week revealed that the U.S. Embassy in Santiago pressured Chilean government officials in 2009 to change environmental rules so that a controversial thermoelectric plant could be built.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 04:59 UTC

  Magallanes region discusses gas prices with Chilean central government

  

  Mining and Energy Minister Laurence Golborne met with the Citizens’ Assembly of Magallanes Region (ACM) (extreme south of Chile) after the first of a series of meetings intended to resolve the Magallanes’ gas subsidy controversy.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 04:51 UTC

  Argentine highest court blasts CFK government for arbitrary distribution of state advertising

  

  A milestone ruling from the Argentina's Supreme Court calls for the omission of discriminatory criteria and “reasonable balance” in the allocation of state advertising. The ruling stems from a 2006 injunction filed by Editorial Perfil, the country's largest magazine publisher, claiming arbitrary distribution of official advertising.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 04:40 UTC

  EC tries to downplay impact for farmers of an EU/Mercosur trade agreement

  

  A trade agreement with Mercosur should not have to destroy the European beef industry, said on Tuesday a spokesperson for the European Community who added that such fears are ‘exaggerated’.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 01:39 UTC

  European Parliament highly critical of EU/Mercosur trade talks

  

  The European Parliament passed a highly critical report on trade negotiations between the EU and the Mercosur bloc for considering that they may imply “farming concessions damaging to European producers.”

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 01:36 UTC

  IMF nominates Egyptian national Deputy Managing Director

  

  Ms. Nemat Shafik, a national of Egypt and the UK has been nominated to the position of Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. She will succeed Mr. Murilo Portugal, who resigned effective March 4, 2011.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 01:19 UTC

  Sino-American and trade expert nominated US ambassador in Beijing

  

  President Barack Obama will nominate Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who this year criticized China for not opening its markets, as next US ambassador to Beijing, two administration officials said.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 01:08 UTC

  Piñera presented with “Star of Palestine” honour; avoids pre-1967 borders controversy

  

  Chile’s President Sebastian Piñera visited both sides of the hotly contested Israeli- Palestine border this weekend. He reasserted his support for an independent Palestinian state, but fell short of formally recognizing the pre-1967 borders.