Politics

• Wednesday, January 3rd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  “A warrior taking his rest” Quiet funeral for Falklands' local hero

  

  Flags flew at half-mast at all government buildings in the Falkland Islands today, Wednesday, as a mark of respect, for the funeral of Terry Peck, former Chief of Police, former Member of the Legislative Council and one of the genuinely local heroes of the 1982 war for the liberation of the islands from Argentine occupation.

• Wednesday, January 3rd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  First day tricky experience for Ban Ki-Moon

  

  Ban Ki-Moon ran into trouble on his first day of work as UN secretary-general on Tuesday over Saddam Hussein's execution when he twice failed to state the United Nations' opposition to the death penalty and stressed instead that capital punishment should be a decision of every country.

• Wednesday, January 3rd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  “Preliminary” WTO discussions between US and Brazil

  

  Brazil's Foreign Affairs minister Celso Amorim, met Wednesday with United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab in New York as part of efforts to get World Trade Organization talks restarted, but both called the discussion preliminary.

• Tuesday, January 2nd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Bolivia requires Visa for US Citizens

  

  Bolivian President Evo Morales suppressed by decree the right of US citizens to enter this country freely, in reciprocity with a similar measure taken by the US government.

• Tuesday, January 2nd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  New UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon Starts Tenure

  

  Starting his first day of work, new Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon vowed Tuesday to end mistrust of the United Nations and called for action to tackle “daunting” problems from crises in the Middle East and Darfur to reducing extreme poverty by half by 2015.

• Monday, January 1st 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Romania and Bulgaria join the EU

  

  Huge celebrations have been held in Romania and Bulgaria to mark their accession to the European Union, 17 years after the fall of Communism.

• Monday, January 1st 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil: Lula da Silva becomes President for second term

  

  Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in for a second consecutive presidential term in Brazil, with promises to accelerate economic growth and to keep the poor at the top of his government's agenda.

• Sunday, December 31st 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Castro admits “slow recovery from surgery” in message

  Cuban President Fidel Castro said in his New Year message on Saturday that he is recovering slowly from surgery and has been collaborating with doctors as “a disciplined patient”.

• Saturday, December 30th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Saddam Hussein Is Executed

  

  Two years after U.S. forces in Iraq pulled him from the hole in which he was hiding near Tikrit, Saddam Hussein has been executed.

• Friday, December 29th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Church influence and marriage, fading institutions in Chile

  The importance of religion in people's lives has diminished and this has been most significant for Chile in the last sixteen years, according to the conclusions of a report from the Chilean chapter of Mori public opinion surveys.