Politics

• Friday, September 18th 2009 - 06:11 UTC

  Argentina, a country of “paranoiac reactions”, and the Kirchners, “what a gang”

  

  “The Kirchners are lefties, but what a left, mamma mia, what a gang!” and Argentina is a country “of hysteric, mad, paranoiac reactions”. The comments belong to Uruguay’s ruling coalition presidential candidate, Jose Mujica and whom opinion polls show him comfortably ahead for next October’s election.

• Friday, September 18th 2009 - 03:44 UTC

  Brazil is not “a Venezuela that goes shopping in the world’s arms supermarkets”

  

  Defence minister Nelson Jobim said that Brazil “is not a Venezuela that goes around shopping in the world’s arms supermarkets”. Brazil targets policy on technical training and technology transfer so “we can develop a sound, autonomous defence industry”, underlined the top official from President Lula da Silva administration.

• Friday, September 18th 2009 - 03:41 UTC

  November elections, rapidly becoming the silent option for Honduras crisis

  

  Four of Honduras six presidential candidates have coincided that the coming November 29 elections are the best solution to the serious political crisis faced by the country since the constitutional president Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a midnight military and civilian coup at the end of June.

• Friday, September 18th 2009 - 03:40 UTC

  Gibraltar/Spain open border policy explains economic surge in the region

  

  Gibraltar makes an extensive contribution to the economy of neighbouring Campo de Gibraltar while it also benefits significantly from Spanish expenditure on the Rock, according to the main conclusions of an economic study published this week.

• Friday, September 18th 2009 - 03:36 UTC

  Ex-Barclays bankers stand to make 400 million USD for managing toxic assets

  

  A group of 45 bankers at Britain’s Barclays bypassed potential curbs on pay and bonuses by jumping ship to set up a Cayman Islands company and manage 12.3 billion US dollars of Barclays’ most toxic debt. They will be paid at least 400 million USD over ten years.

• Friday, September 18th 2009 - 03:23 UTC

  Spain’s rapprochement policy towards Gibraltar confirmed in Congress

  

  The opposition Partido Popular motion tabled before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Spanish Parliament claiming sovereignty over Gibraltar territorial waters was last night defeated by some 20 votes, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Thursday, September 17th 2009 - 13:35 UTC

  “Isolated” Colombia seriously considering abandoning Unasur

  

  Colombia could consider quitting the South American Nations Union, Unasur, if the block does not agree to debate issues related to drug trafficking, terrorism and arms purchases. There is a lack of “sensitivity” from other members to consider these issues.

• Thursday, September 17th 2009 - 13:26 UTC

  China to invest 16 billion USD to develop new oilfields in Venezuela

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced Wednesday that China will invest 16 billion US dollars to boost oil production in the country particularly along the Orinoco River, as part of a strategy to reduce dependence on the US market.

• Thursday, September 17th 2009 - 13:23 UTC

  OECD warns of 25 million jobless in industrialized countries

  

  The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says the global recession could cost 25 million people their jobs. This is despite recent signs that economies of its 30 member countries may be starting to recover.

• Thursday, September 17th 2009 - 13:19 UTC

  US/China “tit for tat” tires’ trade clash sounds alarm bell in WTO

  

  World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy expressed concern Wednesday about the latest move from the US President Obama administration to restrict imports of Chinese-made tires.