Politics

• Saturday, December 26th 2009 - 13:13 UTC

  Royal Christmas speech dedicated to troops serving in Afghanistan

  

  Queen Elizabeth II used her Christmas speech to express sadness at the death toll among British troops in Afghanistan. The monarch offered her sympathy to the families of the 106 service personnel who have died this year.

• Saturday, December 26th 2009 - 13:05 UTC

  Major UK warfare exercise in the Falklands to repel “enemy invasion”

  

  British forces have been taking part in a major warfare exercise in the Falkland Islands, where hundreds of servicemen died during the 1982 conflict. The Highlanders (4 Scots) joined the Royal Navy and RAF in a two-day operation after an “enemy invasion” on the islands, 8,000 miles from the UK, in the South Atlantic.

• Saturday, December 26th 2009 - 12:44 UTC

  Hectic Chile: newborns given single names, forget the saint’s day

  

  Breaking from Chile’s tradition of giving babies a compound name - i.e. Juan Pablo, Maria Isabel - more and more parents are opting for single names.

• Friday, December 25th 2009 - 16:40 UTC

  US Senate confirms ambassadors: Shannon to Brazil and Nelson to Uruguay

  

  United States Senate confirmed Thomas Shannon as the newly appointed US Ambassador to Brazil, after a long delay due to the veto of Republican national deputies, who have showed discontent towards US President Barack Obama's policies as regards Latin America.

• Friday, December 25th 2009 - 16:34 UTC

  Obama closer to achieving the most important piece of social legislation since 1930

  

  US senators have passed the final Senate version of a historic healthcare reform bill. The bill aims to cover 31million uninsured Americans and could lead to the biggest change in US healthcare in decades.

• Friday, December 25th 2009 - 16:13 UTC

  Newsweek predicts death of Fidel Castro and coup in Venezuela

  

  Next year will see the death of the veteran Cuban leader Fidel Castro and the fall of Venezuelan President following a coup, according to the predictions from the latest edition of US magazine Newsweek.

• Friday, December 25th 2009 - 15:54 UTC

  Australia again threatens Japan with legal action for whaling

  

  The Australian government insists it will take international legal action against Japan if it doesn't stop whaling. And it will send surveillance boats to the Southern Ocean to monitor the Japan's annual whaling hunt if it needs to mount a legal case

• Friday, December 25th 2009 - 15:43 UTC

  Le Monde names Brazil’s Lula da Silva as “Man of the Year”

  

  French daily Le Monde named Brazilian President Lula da Silva “Man of the Year” for “personifying a giant”. It is the first time in its history the French publication has made this designation.

• Thursday, December 24th 2009 - 09:57 UTC

  Venezuela imposes power cuts and announces network of “Socialist” shops

  

  Venezuela has imposed sweeping power cuts on industry and businesses in order to save its limited energy resources and avoid mass blackouts. The government said the cuts were because of falling water levels at the Guri Hydroelectric dam, which supplies much of the country's power.

• Thursday, December 24th 2009 - 09:49 UTC

  Another austerity year ahead for Cubans announced Raul Castro

  

  The Cuban economy grew by only 1.4% in 2009, far from an initial forecast of 6%, Economy and Planning minister told parliament this week. Marino Murillo said that Cuba’s exports fell by 22.9% this year, while imports were down 37.4%. Prospects for 2010 are modest: 1.7% growth.