Politics

• Thursday, November 5th 2009 - 05:34 UTC

  GM decision to hang on to European subsidiaries triggers controversy

  

  General Motors decision to hang on to its European car unit Opel including Vauxhall in Britain, was welcomed in the UK but met with anger in Germany. Unite union chief Tony Woodley, a former Vauxhall worker, hailed the news as a “fantastic decision”.

• Wednesday, November 4th 2009 - 22:38 UTC

  Falkland Islands votes on Thursday for new Legislative Assembly

  

  Businessmen Sawle tops Falkland’s election online poll.
  RETIRED businessman Richard ‘Dick’ Sawle (55) was earlier today at the head of an unofficial online poll of Falklands General Election voters. England-born Dick, owner of successful multi-million-pound fishing business Seaview Ltd, appears to have captured the hearts of the Stanley constituency with his promise to, “Listen, learn and act.”

• Wednesday, November 4th 2009 - 13:21 UTC

  Honduran presidential hopefuls sign democracy and governance pact

  

  Four of the six candidates for Honduras presidential election next November 29th signed Tuesday the social pact to strengthen democracy, peace and freedom, one of several steps agreed last week to end the four months institutional crisis of the Central American country, according to political sources.

• Wednesday, November 4th 2009 - 13:18 UTC

  Peruvian regional initiative to cut military expenditure and fight poverty

  

  Peru launched in Argentina its peace, security and cooperation initiative to reduce arms purchases in the region and to lower expenditure on military hardware.

• Wednesday, November 4th 2009 - 13:17 UTC

  Two million British children have no parent in work

  

  The number of children in British families living on benefits has increased by 170,000 over the past year, with child poverty growing in affluent as well as traditionally hard hit areas, according to a new report.

• Wednesday, November 4th 2009 - 13:14 UTC

  Ireland and Spain forecasted to remain in recession well into 2011

  

  The European Union's economy is set to rebound in 2010, recording a growth rate of 0.7% before accelerating to a rate of 1.6% in 2011, the bloc's executive said Tuesday. However some economies will emerge from recession faster than others and among those lagging well into 2011 are Spain and Ireland.

• Wednesday, November 4th 2009 - 13:10 UTC

  Major restructure of British banks includes more injection of funds

  

  Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling welcomed Tuesday the announcements that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group are to sell off hundreds of branches.

• Wednesday, November 4th 2009 - 13:03 UTC

  Brazilian opposition to vote against Venezuela in Mercosur

  

  The Brazilian opposition announced it will attempt to delay as much as possible the Senate vote on the incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur which is scheduled to take place Wednesday following the approval by the Foreign Affaire committee last week.

• Wednesday, November 4th 2009 - 09:32 UTC

  Spain’s unemployment at a record 19.3% and no stopping in near future

  

  Spain's registered jobless rose for the third consecutive month in October reaching 19.3%, as stimulus spending began to run out and the boost from the busy summer period faded.

• Wednesday, November 4th 2009 - 09:24 UTC

  Iraq signs oil development agreements with Britain, China and Italy

  

  Iraq's oil ministry has signed an initial agreement with a consortium led by the Italian firm, ENI, to develop the Zubair oilfield in southern Iraq. The deal which needs cabinet approval calls for the group to extract 200,000 barrels of oil a day, rising to 1.1 million a day within seven years.