Politics

• Tuesday, February 13th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Ecuador's Congress yields and approves referendum

  

  Ecuador's Congress backed Tuesday a call by President Rafael Correa for a referendum on a national assembly that would then rewrite the country's constitution.

• Monday, February 12th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Lesbians take on Santiago, Chile

  

  Feminist lesbians from 18 different countries in Latin America took to the streets of Santiago this weekend to protest against the institutionalized homophobia that still exists in many parts of the continent. About 200 lesbian activists had been participating in the Seventh Latin American and Caribbean Lesbian feminist Conference, the first to take place in Chile.

• Monday, February 12th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Spain accepts Gibraltar phone code and travel documents

  

  Telephone calls between Spain and Gibraltar have gone international, following the acceptance by Spain from this weekend of Gibraltar's international dialling code, reported the local press.

• Monday, February 12th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Falklands' veteran HMS Intrepid to be recycled

  

  The former Royal Navy assault ship HMS Intrepid, a key part of the fleet that led the campaign to retake the Falkland Islands 25 years ago, is expected to be recycled at a British facility, the Ministry of Defense announced Monday.

• Monday, February 12th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil promises to eliminate Mercosur inside obstacles

  

  Brazil will continue working to eliminate obstacles which have effects on Mercosur junior members, Uruguay and Paraguay, said the country's Foreign Affairs minister Celso Amorim.

• Sunday, February 11th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Falkland Islanders “feel vulnerable” to Argentine pressure

  

  Falkland Islanders “feel vulnerable” to Argentine pressure
  The British Embassy in Buenos Aires said the increased political and economic pressure exercised by Argentina on the Falkland Islands has made the Islanders “feel vulnerable”.

• Friday, February 9th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Penguin News Weekly Update

  

  Headlines: Are you being served? Police court saga over at last; Titterington returns to AG's Chambers; Chevening scholars to visit; A serene start to the weekend.

• Friday, February 9th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentina's unemployment drops below two digits

  Unemployment in Argentina for the first time in thirteen years dropped below two digits to 8.7% in the last quarter of 2006 according to Senator and First Lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner currently visiting France.

• Friday, February 9th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentina mired by populism and lack of leaders' elites

  

  President Nestor Kirchner administration is unfailingly heading towards populism and the accumulation of so much power in two or three people plus having the Executive control the other branches of government is highly negative for Argentina, said French political scientist Alain Touraine.

• Wednesday, February 7th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Pulp mills dispute: next round in Madrid, early March

  

  Representatives from Uruguay and Argentina will sit to dialogue about the pulp mill controversy at the end of February or beginning of March in Madrid, according to diplomatic sources in Montevideo.