Politics

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 02:13 UTC

  Daimler Benz admits having bribed government officials from 22 countries

  

  German carmaker Daimler has pleaded guilty to corruption in the US and will pay 185 million US dollars to settle the case. The charges relate to US Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations into the company's global sales practices.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 01:03 UTC

  Energy, trade and cooperation in Mujica/Chavez agenda

  

  Energy, trade and bilateral cooperation are the main issues of the agenda that Uruguayan president Jose Mujica will address with his Venezuelan peer Hugo Chavez on Wednesday in Caracas.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 00:53 UTC

  British top earners begin paying 50p in income tax for each pound over £ 150.000

  

  British top earners will pay 50p in income tax on each pound of their salary over £150,000 from Tuesday April 6, the start of the new financial year. Previously, the highest rate of income tax payable was 40p on every pound for earnings above £37,400.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 00:07 UTC

  UK General Election May 6; Tories lead in polls; chances of hung Parliament

  

  Political leaders have headed off on the campaign trail after Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Tuesday the UK general election would be held on 6 May. He said he would seek a “clear” mandate to continue the “road to recovery”, as Labour bids for a fourth term.

• Tuesday, April 6th 2010 - 03:48 UTC

  CFK and Mujica discuss Bolivian gas and the Botnia pulp mill ruling

  

  Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, CFK and her Uruguayan counterpart José Mujica met Monday afternoon during a surprise visit to the Olivos presidential residence in Buenos Aires.

• Tuesday, April 6th 2010 - 02:45 UTC

  Argentina protests Chinese sanitary restrictions on soy-oil imports

  

  Argentina formally protested on Monday a possible move by China to block imports of Argentine soybean oil in a trade row that threatens a key export of the country and last year involved almost 1.5 billion US dollars.

• Tuesday, April 6th 2010 - 02:40 UTC

  President Hu Jintao to visit this month Brazil, Venezuela and Chile

  

  Chinese president Hu Jintao will be visiting Brazil, Venezuela and Chile in mid April according to a release from Beijing. From an international summit on nuclear security, April 12/13, President Hu Jintao will travel to Brazil for the second BRIC summit, scheduled from April 14 to 17.

• Tuesday, April 6th 2010 - 02:29 UTC

  Beijing tells Washington that Yuan policy Taiwan and Tibet are in the same bag

  

  Amid the currency row with the United States, China has indicated that it may adjust its financial policy to take care of Washington's concerns if the White House respects Beijing's “core interests” in Taiwan and Tibet.

• Tuesday, April 6th 2010 - 02:23 UTC

  US concerned about impact of Venezuelan purchase of Russian arms in Latam

  

  The United States Department is questioning Venezuela's need to buy billions of dollars in weapons from Russia, voicing concern the arms may end up elsewhere in Latin America.

• Tuesday, April 6th 2010 - 01:02 UTC

  Buenos Aires City surrounded by two million Argentines living in shanty towns

  

  Over two million people live in a thousand shanty towns in the surroundings of Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires in conditions of extreme marginality and precariousness, according to official data released by the weekend press.