Politics

• Thursday, June 25th 2009 - 17:10 UTC

  Former Falklands Chief Executive becomes a clergyman

  

  A former Chief Executive of the Falkland Islands government is to become a clergyman in the Yorkshire Dales. Michael Blanch is to serve as curate at Askrigg united with Stallingbusk, according to press reports from North Yorkshire.

• Thursday, June 25th 2009 - 09:49 UTC

  Washington and Venezuela agree to re-establish their ambassadors

  

  Venezuela and United States will be re-establishing their ambassadors in the coming days, confirmed on Wednesday Venezuelan Foreign Affairs minister Nicolas Maduro Ambassadors Bernardo Alvarez and Patrick Duddy were withdrawn last September when hostility between President Hugo Chavez and former President George Bush climaxed following years of disagreements and diplomatic clashes.

• Wednesday, June 24th 2009 - 15:25 UTC

  Obama praises Bachelet and Lula da Silva as “model relations”

  

  United States president described his Chilean peer Michelle Bachelet as “one of the most compelling leaders” of Latinamerica and together with Brazil’s Lula da Silva they are an “example” of the kind of relations Washington wants with the region.

• Wednesday, June 24th 2009 - 08:43 UTC

  UK says Falklands should be out of UN non self-governing territories list

  

  The United Kingdom spokesman Chris Bryant said that the British position is that Gibraltar, the Falklands or any other Overseas Territories should not be included on the United Nations list of non self-governing territories.

• Wednesday, June 24th 2009 - 08:32 UTC

  Kirchner, “one of the best neighbours Uruguay has ever had”

  

  Former Uruguayan president Jorge Batlle forecasted that Nestor Kirchner is going to be the main looser in next Sunday’s Argentine mid term elections, although he described the former Argentine president as “one of the best neighbours ever, for Uruguay’s interests”.

• Wednesday, June 24th 2009 - 07:58 UTC

  Criminal charges for MPs who make false allowances claims

  

  British Members of Parliament who make false allowances claims could face criminal charges under new measures announced by Commons Leader Harriet Harman. She said the Parliamentary Standards Bill would create new criminal offences as well as establishing an independent body to oversee a reformed system of MPs' pay and perks.

• Tuesday, June 23rd 2009 - 11:54 UTC

  Itaipu dispute postpones Mercosur presidential summit in Paraguay

  

  The Mercosur presidential summit has been postponed for July 24 and 25 it was reported Monday from Asunción, Paraguay, the host of the event. Three of the four full members of the trade group, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, proposed the change from the original July 3 and 4 arguing political and electoral reasons.

• Tuesday, June 23rd 2009 - 11:40 UTC

  The Economist: the glass empties for the Kirchners

  

  Recession and political mistakes by the first couple point to a change in the balance of power. But will Argentina at last acquire a more coherent opposition?

• Tuesday, June 23rd 2009 - 11:14 UTC

  Tory named Speaker of the House of Commons

  

  Britain’s opposition Conservative Member of Parliament Tory John Bercow won the race to replace Michael Martin as Speaker of the House of Commons. Mr Bercow, MP for Buckingham, topped all three secret ballots - beating his only challenger in the third round, Sir George Young - by 51 votes.

• Tuesday, June 23rd 2009 - 08:01 UTC

  Argentine industry warns of “political crisis”, more serious than “economic crisis

  

  The head of Argentina’s powerful Industrial Union, UIA, said the country is going through “a political crisis” which is more severe than the economic crisis and ventured that the current electoral climate “does not offer significant political alternatives or leaderships”.