Politics

Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Brazilian Congress puts Venezuela inches closer to Mercosur

Brazil's Lower House approved the incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur, but a further and tougher hurdle lies ahead: the Senate where several members have anticipated their disagreement, according to sources quoted by the Brasilia press.
Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
RN new Type 45 destroyer undergoes successful sea trials

The Royal Navy's first-of-class of the new Type 45 Destroyers HMS Daring has now completed a range of stringent trials and tests and is due to sail to her home port of Portsmouth in January 2009. The 7,500-ton ship is scheduled to undertake several months more of exhaustive trials and training before she is declared ready for operational service.
Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Woman to the rescue of “failed” US financial watchdog

Mary Schapiro has been named the next head of the US financial watchdog Securities and Exchange Commission. President-elect Barack Obama officially nominated her as the first permanent chairwoman of the regulator.
Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Gibraltar celebrates EU tax case victory with public holiday

Gibraltar Government hailed on Thursday the comprehensive victory in the European Union tax case “as huge for Gibraltar, economically, socially, politically and constitutionally”.
Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Iron Duke back in UK after Caribbean and Falklands patrolling

Royal Navy warship HMS Iron Duke returned to Portsmouth on Thursday from operations in the Atlantic which included a £50 million drug bust in the Caribbean, combined patrolling around the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and navigating the iceberg-infested Antarctic Convergence Zone
Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
UK engineers and spares in P Arenas wait for Endurance

Twenty four passengers from the stranded Royal Navy Ice Patrol HMS Endurance arrived Thursday morning to Punta Arenas on board the Chilean navy missile fast boat “Casma”.
Wednesday, December 17th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Unasur should have Secretary General next April 30

The Union of South American Nations, Unasur, agreed on a new timetable for the ratification of the organization's multilateral treaty and for reaching a consensus on the nomination of a standing secretary general, which has soured relations between Uruguay and Argentina.
Wednesday, December 17th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Iraq reporter who threw shoes at Bush, becomes instant hero

Thousands of Iraqis have demanded the release of a local TV reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush at a Baghdad news conference. Crowds gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City district, calling for “hero” Muntadar al-Zaidi to be freed from custody.
Wednesday, December 17th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Cuba formally joins Rio Group of Latin American countries

Cuba on Tuesday was formally accepted as a member of the Rio Group of Latin American nations, handing the communist island a symbolic victory over US efforts to bar it from regional organizations.
Wednesday, December 17th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Obama named Time's 'Person of the Year' 2008”

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama was named “Person of the Year” by Time magazine, which said he “suspended our politics, shattered decades of conventional wisdom and overcame centuries of the social pecking order.”