Politics

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 23:02 UTC

  One out of five Spaniards “below the threshold of poverty”

  

  Spain’s economic crisis had devastating effects on the quality of life of the population during 2009. According to a damning survey on living conditions in the country published by the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas) 13.7% of households in Spain had “great difficulty” in making ends meet at the end of each month.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 22:52 UTC

  Chile creates Emergency Jobs Program to counter massive layoffs

  

  With many Chilean companies using the ‘Fuerza Mayor’ clause to terminate contracts with their workers in the wake of the February 27 earthquake, Chile’s government this week announced creation of 13,000 new emergency jobs for the most devastated zones and the creation of special loans for the most damaged companies.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 22:50 UTC

  Lula da Silva wants Hamas and Hezbollah in Mid East negotiations table

  

  Brazilian president Lula da Silva said he is willing and available to begin talks with the Palestine Hamas organization, as well as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and even Iran, to reach peace in the Middle East.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 14:32 UTC

  Hillary Clinton announces US support for Insulza’s OAS re-election

  

  The United States will support Chile’s Jose Miguel Insulza in his bid for another five years as head of the Organization of American States, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday in a letter to the OAS secretary-general.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 03:43 UTC

  Falklands’ oil dispute: Argentina presents its case and backgrounds to OAS

  

  Argentina presented before the Organization of American States, OAS, documents on recent British decisions and actions referred to the disputed Falkland Islands and requested they be made public to all members of the OAS General Assembly.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 03:36 UTC

  Google is “totally wrong” in stopping filtering Chinese site, warns Beijing

  

  Google Inc. is “totally wrong” in stopping censorship of its Chinese-language search results and blaming China for “alleged hacker attacks,” Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday, citing an unidentified government official.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 03:32 UTC

  European Union remains divided over monetary aid to Greece

  

  The president of the European Commission challenged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to rise above domestic politics and agree on a financial safety net for debt-stricken Greece to help preserve European monetary union.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 03:18 UTC

  Green light for Argentina to restructure 20 billion in defaulted debt

  

  Argentina has US regulatory approval to restructure 20 billion USD in defaulted debt and expects to launch the deal within three weeks, announced the government on Monday.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 03:13 UTC

  Drug abuse among teenagers in several South American countries

  

  The Organization of American States (OAS), through its Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), and the United Nations (UN), through its Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), presented in Vienna the latest joint study on drug consumption among student populations in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 02:55 UTC

  Four Rio Tinto executives admit taking bribes to a court in Shanghai

  

  Four executives of mining giant Rio Tinto have admitted to a court in the Chinese city of Shanghai that they took bribes, officials have said. Lawyers for the men - Australian Stern Hu and three Chinese colleagues - said they admitted accepting some money but are disputing the amounts.