Politics

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 20:39 UTC

  Argentina does not rule out Brazil in the River Uruguay joint monitoring

  

  Argentina’s Deputy Foreign Minister Victorio Taccetti did not rule out the possibility of Brazil integrating the joint environmental monitoring of the River Uruguay currently being arranged by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her Uruguayan counterpart José Mujica.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 20:32 UTC

  HMS Manchester wren jailed for smuggling cocaine into the UK

  

  A Royal Navy wren has been jailed for smuggling cocaine into the UK on board a warship which had been on counter-narcotics training and in the first half of 2009 was involved in South Atlantic-Falkland Islands’ deployment, BBC reports.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 20:29 UTC

  IMF chief Strauss-Khan strongly supports Spain’s reforms

  

  IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn praised Spain’s management of the current economic situation and said the budget deficit will shrink “rapidly” as the government’s overhaul of labor rules boosts economic growth.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 19:25 UTC

  Venezuela’s Mercosur incorporation closer on political agreement in Paraguay

  

  “There are better conditions, things are quieter now” to consider the incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur as full member said Paraguayan cabinet chief Miguel Lopez Perito, following a political agreement in Congress with one of the main opposition parties.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 05:54 UTC

  Mujica also wants Brazil in the joint monitoring of the River Uruguay

  

  President Jose Mujica said the Wednesday night decision by Argentine activists to lift the (four year) blockade on a bridge leading to Uruguay was ‘our team’s fourth goal’ (in reference to that afternoon’s 3-0 victory over South Africa at the World Cup).

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 05:43 UTC

  Venezuela’s CITGO offering to pay 12% for a 7 year bond

  

  US based CITGO Petroleum Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Venezuela's state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), is coming to market with a 7 year bond and offering to pay 11.75% to 12% on the debt.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 04:43 UTC

  Spanish leader advices Cameron to act swiftly and fast with budget cuts

  

  Spanish president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero recommended British PM David Cameron to implement all economic reforms “swiftly, with no delay” and the widest ranging possible.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 04:29 UTC

  China wants higher pay for workers; spate of strikes in foreign owned companies

  

  One of China's most influential newspapers, the official People's Daily, has called for workers' incomes to be raised. The paper says wages need to rise to protect stability and transform society.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 00:40 UTC

  Brazil and Peru sign agreements to strengthen cooperation and energy integration

  

  Brazil and Peru signed several accords which strengthened regional integration with particular emphasis on energy. The event followed a meeting between Presidents Lula da Silva and Alan Garcia met in Manaus, state of Amazon.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 00:13 UTC

  Veteran politician replaces Chilean outspoken ambassador in Argentina

  

  Adolfo Zaldívar, the president of Chile’s Independent Regional Party (PRI), is now Chile’s new ambassador to Argentina.