Politics

• Wednesday, January 6th 2010 - 11:15 UTC

  Spanish unemployment at new records: 19.3% and 40% for the young

  

  Spanish unemployment rose to the highest in more than a decade in December, 19.3%, capping a year that saw the nation’s jobless rate soar to double the Euro- zone average. The number of people registering for unemployment benefits increased by 54,657, or 1.41 percentage points from November to 3.92 million.

• Wednesday, January 6th 2010 - 11:11 UTC

  Brazil has record increase of international reserves in 2009

  

  Brazil’s Central Bank reserves soared 23.4% in the last twelve months having reached 239 billion US dollars by December 31st, according to the latest data available. Nevertheless the Central Bank points out that this was below the December 2nd record of 239.4 billion USD.

• Wednesday, January 6th 2010 - 03:19 UTC

  Uruguay confirms total support to China’s Taiwan and Tibet policies

  

  China thanked Uruguay for its staunch and sustained support in crucial issues such as the one-China policy and Tibet. Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and Uruguay’s Lower House president Roque Arregui, currently visiting China, met earlier this week in Beijing.

• Tuesday, January 5th 2010 - 22:27 UTC

  HMS York has arrived in the Falkland Islands

  

  HMS York arrived in the Falkland Islands on 2 Jan 10, having met up with the homeward bound HMS Gloucester and the tanker RFA Gold in the area around Rio de Janeiro

• Tuesday, January 5th 2010 - 13:11 UTC

  Chile’s presidential January 17 run-off in its decisive leg

  

  On Sunday evening Chile’s two presidential hopefuls – billionaire businessman Sebastian Piñera and Senator Eduardo Frei – began airing five-minute TV spots designed to win votes for the January 17 run-off presidential election. The spots will run through January 14.

• Tuesday, January 5th 2010 - 13:06 UTC

  Argentina’s inflation third highest in the world, say private consultants

  

  Private consultants estimate that Argentina’s inflation in 2009 and in spite of the devalued government statistics was the third highest in the world behind the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela.

• Tuesday, January 5th 2010 - 12:56 UTC

  PM Brown admits he is the underdog in the forthcoming general election

  

  UK Gordon Brown has admitted he is the underdog in the forthcoming general election battle - but insisted he is ready to “fight” for Britain. The Prime Minister said voters faced a “big choice” between the Tories promise of “austerity” and Labour's plans to encourage “aspiration”.

• Tuesday, January 5th 2010 - 12:37 UTC

  Chile: Final Mistake

  

  The Concertación’s leaders don’t understand the country they helped create.
  By Andrés Allamand

• Tuesday, January 5th 2010 - 12:31 UTC

  President Chavez imposes draconian power saving program

  

  Venezuelans have received 2010 with the announcement of an extremely severe power-saving program forcing all shopping malls, bars, restaurants, discos and cinemas to close business several hours a day.

• Tuesday, January 5th 2010 - 12:24 UTC

  Argentine General: demining a humanitarian and ethical imperative

  

  ”Argentina is free of all type of mines, with the exception of those planted in the Malvinas Islands which motivated Argentina to request and obtain a ten year de-mining extension, because Argentina currently does not have access to the Islands illegitimately occupied by the United Kingdom”.