Politics

Saturday, December 19th 2009 - 04:50 UTC
Argentina successfully tests locally designed and manufactured missile booster

Argentina announced the successful launching of a missile booster, --identified as Gradicom PCX-2009-- in a firing range in the central province of Cordoba and said the event represented a “qualitative leap” for Argentine missile technology.
Saturday, December 19th 2009 - 04:02 UTC
Chavez picks on Holland for a verbal exchange; The Hague demands clarification

The Netherlands government on Friday described as “groundless” the claims made by President Hugo Chávez in a speech on Thursday, when the Venezuelan ruler said that the Netherlands was plotting with United States “to target” Venezuela from the islands of Aruba and Curacao.
Saturday, December 19th 2009 - 03:59 UTC
HMS York en route to the Falklands for South Atlantic patrolling

HMS Gloucester is expected Monday in Portsmouth in time for Christmas following a very successful six and half month in the South Atlantic. She was replaced early December by HMS York which is already on route to the Falkland Islands.
Saturday, December 19th 2009 - 03:57 UTC
Uruguay will retain close relations with Venezuela, “but no ALBA”

Uruguay’s next Foreign Affairs minister Ambassador Luis Almagro said that president elect Jose Mujica’s administration will sustain “an important relation” with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez because it is the country’s main supplier of oil and one of ten leading trade partners.
Friday, December 18th 2009 - 12:01 UTC
President Obama envoy met with Mujica and today visits Paraguay

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo A. Valenzuela visited Uruguay on Thursday where he met with president elect Jose Mujica and Vice-president Danilo Astori.
Friday, December 18th 2009 - 11:55 UTC
Duhalde tosses his hat into the 2011 Argentine presidential election

Former Argentine caretaker president Eduardo Duhalde announced on Thursday he is “convinced” to be running for president in order to face Representative Néstor Kirchner in the upcoming Justicialista Party primary elections. He stated: “There are no candidates willing to confront Kirchner.”
Friday, December 18th 2009 - 11:53 UTC
Fed chairman Bernanke’s reconfirmation is almost a fact

Ben Bernanke's nomination to a second term as head of the US Federal Reserve has been approved by a Senate panel. Members of the Senate Banking Committee voted on Thursday 16 to seven to back Mr Bernanke as head of the central bank.
Friday, December 18th 2009 - 10:53 UTC
Paraguay could vote on Venezuela’s Mercosur incorporation after summer recess

Paraguayan Congress will remain blocking Venezuela's entry into Mercosur trade bloc “as long as President Hugo Chávez continues intervening in foreign affairs”, stated the head of the Senate, Miguel Carrizosa, just a day after Brazilian lawmakers approved the incorporation. However his successor in the job affirms the opposite.
Friday, December 18th 2009 - 08:28 UTC
New Year for Gibraltar/Algeciras: ferry route reopened after four decades

The ferry route linking Gibraltar and Algeciras reopened for business this week, forty years after it was forced to shut down by the closure of the border between Spain and the Rock, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.
Friday, December 18th 2009 - 08:16 UTC
It’s a very merry Christmas for British Airways travellers

One million air travellers have breathed a sigh of relief after a British judge ruled that a planned 12-day Christmas strike by British Airways cabin crew could not go ahead. The airline won its legal challenge after claiming that Unite had balloted hundreds of members who had subsequently left the company.