Politics

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 13:23 UTC

  Amnesty International calls for an end to the US embargo against Cuba

  

  President Barack Obama should take the first step towards dismantling the US embargo against Cuba by not renewing sanctions against the island under the Trading with the Enemy Act, said Amnesty International in an official Tuesday release.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 13:12 UTC

  Gibraltar signs information exchange agreements to boost tax transparency

  

  Gibraltar Chief Minister Peter Caruana signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with the UK which is set to boost levels of transparency on tax-related issues, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 13:03 UTC

  The “morbid obsession” of Cuban censors to protect their perks

  

  An article published Sunday in the official Cuban daily Juventud Rebelde criticizes the “morbid obsession” and “paranoia” of some officials for censuring information and rejecting criticism by other officials in an attempt to maintain the image of the Castro ruled island or their own positions.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 13:00 UTC

  Torturers of Pinochet era still on Chilean government payroll

  

  Chilean Defence Minister Fransisco Vidal confirmed Monday that the Military still employs people accused or convicted of human rights abuses under Chile’s military dictatorship (1973-1990). The state employees receive monthly salaries of up to 2,200 US dollars.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 07:41 UTC

  Euro zone record in July: 15.1 million jobless

  

  Unemployment in the 16-member Euro zone hit a 10-year high in July, data released Tuesday showed. EU statistics office Eurostat said that another 167,000 people were unemployed in the Euro zone during July, pushing the jobless rate up to 9.5% from 9.4% in June which takes the total to 15.1 million people.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 07:23 UTC

  Terrorist suspect to be confirmed as Iranian Defence minister

  

  Iranian MPs have strongly backed the defence minister-designate, in defiance of Argentine demands for his arrest over a 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires. Ahmad Vahidi faced no opposition from MPs on the third day of a debate on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's choices for his new cabinet.

• Wednesday, September 2nd 2009 - 07:13 UTC

  Commonwealth fully suspends Fiji for refusing to call elections

  

  The Commonwealth has fully suspended Fiji after it refused to bow to demands to call elections by next year. Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma cited the Pacific island country's lack of progress towards democracy.

• Tuesday, September 1st 2009 - 19:37 UTC

  British consul in Basra next Falkland Islands governor

  

  British Consul General in Basra Iraq and biodiversity conservation expert Nigel Haywood will be the next Governor of the Falkland Islands and Commissioner for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

• Tuesday, September 1st 2009 - 13:36 UTC

  Chavez takes time to reply to Peruvian President García ironies

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that his country will continue exporting oil to the United States because it is in interest. In a statement published in the Lima daily El Comercio that “many people don’t know” that Venezuelan state oil giant PDVSA, through its Citgo subsidiary, has seven large refineries and more than 10.000 service stations on US soil.

• Tuesday, September 1st 2009 - 12:59 UTC

  Uruguay confirms submission to extend continental shelf to 350 miles

  

  Uruguay submitted a summary of the official request to extend the limits of its continental shelf from 200 to 350 miles, --in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea--, to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, CLCS, which is holding its 24th session in New York.