| Gay marriage promise floats over Paris gay pride parade Jun 30th 2012, 20:29 AFP - Always colourful and raucous, the annual Gay Pride parade in Paris on Saturday was further buoyed by the promise of France's new Socialist government to legalise gay marriage and adoption rights. "This is a special parade because it is the first time we have a government, a president, a parliament who are in favour of progress," said Nicolas Gougain, spokesman for the the gay rights group Inter-LGBT. Organisers were... | | Worries about vote buying despite Mexican reforms Jun 30th 2012, 18:04 MEXICO CITY (AP) — Political reforms in Mexico have made it much harder to steal an election, officials say. But a lot of people think you can still buy one. As voters go to the polls Sunday to elect a new president, allegations are flying that candidates are offering money and swag, flouting campaign-spending limits in the process. Most allegations are aimed at the old guard Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which polls say holds a sizeable lead after being kicked out of the top office by voters 12 years ago. The PRI held on to Mexico's presidency for 71 years, using vote-buying and other kinds of fraud when deemed necessary, until it was defeated in 2000 by the National Action... | | Endurance athlete still going in Cuba-Florida swim Jun 30th 2012, 15:21 HAVANA (AP) — Endurance swimmer Penny Palfrey pushed through the calm waters of the Florida Straits overnight and through the Saturday dawn, enduring jellyfish stings but otherwise encountering perfect conditions as she neared the halfway mark in her attempt to become the first woman to swim unassisted from Cuba to Florida. By 8:38 a.m. EDT (1248 GMT), a little over 25 hours into the swim, the 49-year-old grandmother was 48 miles (77 kilometers) from her starting point at a... | | World powers meet in Geneva for Syria crisis talks Jun 30th 2012, 07:15 AFP - World powers meet Saturday in a desperate bid to salvage international envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan for Syria to end 16 months of bloodshed and agree on a transition plan for the strife-hit country. A crunch meeting hours ahead of the talks between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov led Moscow to issue an upbeat outlook for the conference, saying a deal was likely. But Washington took... | | Paraguay suspended from Mercosur Jun 30th 2012, 05:45 The Mercosur trade bloc has suspended Paraguay over the impeachment of President Fernando Lugo on 22 June. The presidents of Argentina, Brazil and... | | Endurance athlete Palfrey tries Cuba-Florida swim Jun 30th 2012, 00:35 HAVANA (AP) — Marathon swimmer Penny Palfrey powered through the Straits of Florida on Friday as she attempted a record 103-mile (166-kilometer) unassisted swim from Cuba to Florida that tests the limits of human endurance and the will of the high seas. Slathered with sunblock and lubricant to prevent chafing, the British-born Australian bade farewell to onlookers, dove headfirst into the calm, bathwater-warm seas off Havana and began stroking slowly northward with a kayaker as escort. "There's a lot of work that's gone into this over the past year," Palfrey said, thanking her husband, her team and... | | US, Russia Remain Divided Over Syria Jun 29th 2012, 23:11 Top U.S. and Russian diplomats have failed to reach an agreement on how to deal with the rising violence across Syria. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov Friday in St. Petersburg, ahead of an international conference on the Syrian crisis. U.S. officials said the two failed to reach a consensus. World and... | | Endurance athlete Palfrey tries Cuba-Forida swim Jun 29th 2012, 23:05 HAVANA (AP) — Marathon swimmer Penny Palfrey powered through the Gulf of Mexico on Friday on a record bid to traverse the Straits of Florida, a 103-mile (166-kilometer) unassisted swim testing the limits of human endurance and the will of the high seas. Slathered with sunblock and lubricant to prevent chafing, the British-born Australian bade farewell to onlookers, dove headfirst into the calm, bathwater-warm seas off Havana and began stroking slowly northward with a kayaker as escort. "There's a lot of work that's gone into this over the past year," Palfrey said, thanking her husband, her team... | | Venezuela To Join Mercosur Trade Bloc Jun 29th 2012, 22:56 By SHANE ROMIG MENDOZA, Argentina—The Mercosur group of South American countries approved Venezuela's membership to the trade bloc and suspended Paraguay until the country can hold new presidential... | | Paraguay suspended from Mercosur, no sanctions Jun 29th 2012, 22:47 MENDOZA, Argentina (AP) — The Mercosur trade bloc suspended Paraguay's membership on Friday for having impeached and ousted its president but will not slap economic sanctions on the poor, landlocked country. The South American bloc also announced that Venezuela will become its fifth full member starting July 31. Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo was impeached by the country's Congress a week ago in a fast-track trial triggered by a land eviction that killed 17 people in clashes between police and landless peasants. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez told other heads of... | | Paraguay will not face Mercosur economic sanctions Jun 29th 2012, 20:39 MENDOZA, Argentina (AP) — Argentina's President said Friday the Mercosur trade bloc has suspended Paraguay from the trade bloc but will not slap economic sanctions against the South American country after the ousting of its president. Fernando Lugo was impeached by the Paraguayan Congress a week ago in a fast trial triggered by a land eviction that killed 17 people in clashes between police and landless peasants. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez told other heads of... | | Assange Defies Surrender Request Jun 29th 2012, 19:37 LONDON—WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange has defied a British police summons and won't be leaving the Ecuadorean Embassy in London until he hears about his asylum bid, a member of his defense fund said Friday. British police had demanded that the silver-haired computer expert report to a London... | | Land reform, Paraguay's ticking political bomb Jun 29th 2012, 18:51 ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) — Along Avenida Republica in downtown Asuncion stands the gleaming facade of the $20 million Legislative Palace, where well-tailored congressional aides on their cellphones come and go and armed police guard the legislature that just impeached one president and installed another. Across the street, a trash-strewn tent camp dominates a public park where residents of a shantytown scheduled for demolition have been protesting for the last year and a half. Pigs and dogs root in the dirt, as flames lap at the grate of a rudimentary cooking pit. The stark contrast tells the story of a divided people living under the same red-white-and-blue-striped flag. In one Paraguay, GDP... | | Young Mexicans Tweet the Vote Jun 29th 2012, 18:42 By LAURENCE ILIFF MEXICO CITY—The Middle East had its Twitter revolutions last year, and now, once-apathetic Mexican youths are taking a greater role ahead of Sunday's presidential election, using hashtags and YouTube videos in a bid to shake up the political landscape. While 45-year-old Enrique Peña Nieto is heavily favored to return to the presidency the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ruled Mexico from 1929 to 2000, students' efforts on behalf of leftist challenger Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, will have a lasting impact on Mexican politics. Roy Campos, an avid social-media advocate and head of the... | | US July benzene contract closes up 19 cents/gal Jun 29th 2012, 18:33 HOUSTON (ICIS)--The July US benzene contract settled at $4.30/gal ($1,287/tonne, €1,030/tonne) on Friday, up 19 cents/gal from the June contract following heavy buying... | | Ciudad Juarez: Mexico's 'deadliest city' sees economic gains Jun 29th 2012, 15:06 BBC reporter Ian Sherwood has travelled to Ciudad Juarez, on the Mexico-US border, several times. As Mexicans prepare to elect a new president on Sunday, he returns to see how the city, which has been the scene of brutal drug gang killings, is faring. Ciudad Juarez has had many labels in recent years. One that stuck firmly was given at the height of Mexico's crackdown on drug gangs: the world's deadliest city. But things have changed here. This was my fifth trip to Juarez over the past three years, my first being in March 2009 with colleague Matthew Price as the violence escalated. President Felipe Calderon had deployed 5,000 troops to the streets of the city in an attempt to bring... | | 'Broke' Cyprus to assume EU presidency Jun 29th 2012, 13:33 Think of Cyprus and what might first come to mind is the country's enduring feud with Turkey, which has occupied the northern part of the island since 1974. The country, which joined the European Union in 2004, hopes it can project a different image from July 1, when it takes over the six-monthly rotating EU presidency from Denmark for the first time. But whether this will be for the better or worse remains open to speculation. Given Cyprus’ precarious economic state, Europe watchers are wondering what the country might achieve at the head of a Europe in a similarly parlous position. ‘A dog guarding the sausages’ Kurt Lauk, president of the economic council of Angela... | | In pictures: Collaboration one Jun 29th 2012, 08:24 Junk into art Meet the artists Watch them work In pictures Fashion designer Martin Churba travelled to Mumbai to meet Shilpa Chavan, a milliner who counts Lady Gaga a customer. As part of our Collaboration Culture series, they spent four days working together on six creations and then staged a fashion shoot on the city's busy streets. Searching for brightly coloured buttons, jewels and fabrics in Chavan's favourite shop in Mumbai. The haberdashery... | | Ousted 'Dictatorship' Rises Again in Mexico Jun 29th 2012, 05:11 By NICHOLAS CASEY and DAVID LUHNOW ATLACOMULCO, Mexico—It took Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party, once described as the "perfect dictatorship," 71 years to lose power. This Sunday it looks set to regain control of the national government after just 12 years. Enrique Peña Nieto, a native son of this hillside town that has remained a stronghold of the party, known as the PRI, is the runaway favorite in Sunday's presidential election, a contest Mexicans hope will kick-start a stalled economy and ease the country's violent drug war. An average of six polls shows Mr. Peña Nieto, a former state governor and the new face of the party, with 45% support versus 29% for... | | Singapore Opens S$1 Billion, 101-Hectare Park to Boost Tourism Jun 29th 2012, 04:44 Singapore opened its S$1 billion ($782 million) 101-hectare (250-acre) downtown park today, the city's newest tourist attraction, as it seeks to boost visitor arrivals by as much as 10 percent this year. Gardens by the Bay, a park filled with flora and fauna found in regions like South America and Africa, will attract as many as 5 million visitors a year, Chief Executive Tan Wee... | | Venezuela court seizes assets of anti-Chavez Globovision Jun 29th 2012, 02:19 The Supreme Court in Venezuela has ordered the seizure of $5.7m (£3.6m) in assets belonging to a news channel opposed to president Hugo Chavez. Globovision accused the government of trying to intimidate it ahead of the beginning of electoral campaign for the October presidential election. Opposition candidate... | | Paraguay faces heavy sanctions for Lugo's removal Jun 29th 2012, 01:25 "We're at the beginning of a period of great uncertainty," says Eduardo Arce, a Paraguayan journalist. In less than 48 hours last week, Mr Arce and his fellow Paraguayans witnessed a swift impeachment process that removed President Fernando Lugo and installed vice-president Federico Franco as interim leader until elections due in April. Congress voted almost unanimously to remove Mr Lugo over his handling of clashes between farmers and police that left at least 17 people dead. Although the impeachment adhered to the country's constitution, the move has threatened to isolate the South American nation from its neighbours. The left-leaning presidents of Argentina, Bolivia... | | Nadal crashes out of Wimbledon in major upset Jun 28th 2012, 22:51 REUTERS - Czech Lukas Rosol beat second seed Rafa Nadal 6-7 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4 in the Wimbledon second round to complete one of the biggest ever upsets on Thursday. The world number 100, making his Wimbledon debut, overpowered the Spanish second seed... | | Mexican drug cartels work to sway local vote Jun 28th 2012, 22:46 EMILIANO ZAPATA, Mexico (AP) — Before the sun climbed above the hills around this central Mexican town, Saul Garcia and his family awoke to the sound of bullets piercing the front gate. A masked motorcyclist had opened fire on their brick home, leaving behind a poster signed by the La Familia drug cartel, warning the mayoral candidate to withdraw from the race or the gang would kill him, his wife and three children. Garcia, a candidate for the local Social Democratic Party, didn't pull out. A state police officer now follows Garcia 24 hours a day while he courts voters on the steep and narrow streets of Emiliano Zapata, a suburb of Cuernavaca in the state of Morelos. As Mexicans head to the... | | Trinidad gas-to-chem project in doubt as natgas talks falter Jun 28th 2012, 22:42 HOUSTON (ICIS)--A huge gas-to-chemicals project in Trinidad and Tobago proposed by SABIC and Sinopec appeared to be in doubt this week as talks over a natural gas contract faltered, sources said on Thursday. The proposed $5.3bn (€4.2bn) project called for 225m cubic feet/day of natural gas. In early February, Trinidad's Minister of Energy, Kevin Ramnarine, and the government began... | | US Attorney General Holder held in contempt of Congress Jun 28th 2012, 21:57 US Attorney General Eric Holder has been held in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over a set of documents on a failed sting operation. In a majority vote, some Democrats joined with the House of Representatives'... | | Italy beat Germany 2-1 to reach Euro 2012 final Jun 28th 2012, 21:57 AFP - A Mario Balotelli header and a thumping drive gave Italy a richly deserved 2-1 win over Germany in Thursday's Euro 2012 semi-final in Warsaw. The 21-year-old struck a first half brace to stun the... | | Barclays boss fights for job amid UK market-fixing probe Jun 28th 2012, 20:51 AP - More global banks are being investigated for the alleged financial market manipulation that led to fines of $453 million against Barclays Bank, British Treasury chief George Osborne said Thursday, driving financial stocks lower. The day before, U.S and British regulators fined Barclays for manipulating the interest rate - the London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) - to its advantage between 2005 and 2009. The rate is used to price mortgages and consumer loans. Osborne said Barclays was not the only bank to be involved in market fixing. There are investigations in several countries involving, among others, Citigroup in the U.S., Switzerland’s UBS, and Britain’s HSBC and Royal... | | Mercosur summit mulls action against Paraguay over Lugo Jun 28th 2012, 20:18 Foreign ministers from the Mercosur trade bloc are meeting in Argentina, with action against Paraguay over the impeachment of President Fernando Lugo high on the agenda. The presidents of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay were scheduled to join the summit on Thursday. Paraguay could face suspension from Mercosur and economic sanctions. Regional leaders described the dismissal of Paraguay's... | | Karadzic cleared of one of two genocide charges Jun 28th 2012, 16:57 AFP - The Yugoslav war crimes court on Thursday dropped one genocide charge against wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, but a similar charge over the Srebrenica massacre still stands. Presiding judge O-Gon Kwon said there was not enough evidence to substantiate the definition of genocide in relation to killings by Bosnian Serb forces in towns and villages of Bosnia from March to December... | | Australia's controversial boat people bill dead in the water Jun 28th 2012, 16:02 When Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Thursday urged Australia’s upper house to pass the Labor-backed ‘Malaysia Solution’ bill to process refugee claims offshore, the timing was grimly pertinent. On the eve of the debate, a second boatload of refugees in a week had capsized off the remote Australian territory of Christmas Island, adding four more deaths to the 90 people drowned days earlier. The Senate debate around the bill was highly charged, the deaths having underlined the government’s inability to find a way to stem the tide of so-called “ boat people”, illegal migrants who pay smugglers to take... | | Mexican Navy locates helicopter crash site Jun 28th 2012, 10:52 The Mexican Navy says it has located the wreckage of one of its helicopters that disappeared last Friday over an area where drug cartels are active. The crash site... | | Euro 2012 football fever hits baseball-loving Cuba Jun 28th 2012, 09:40 Baseball is Cuba's national sport. But a new craze is sweeping this island: football. You are as likely to see a young Cuban in a replica football shirt as in a baseball top these days. Street kickabouts have become as common as children playing with a bat and ball. "Support for football has grown a lot among young Cubans in recent years," says student Manuel Alejandro as he takes a break from his own game with friends on the Havana seafront. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote Since they started showing football on TV here, support for the game has been growing. Now it is a passion” End Quote Carlos Mendez Football fan "It's a football... | | Mexico election: Presidential candidates end campaigns Jun 28th 2012, 08:37 Mexico's presidential candidates have wrapped up their campaigns with huge rallies ahead of Sunday's election. Front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto appeared in Toluca, while his nearest rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador addressed supporters in Mexico City. Josefina Vazquez Mota, bidding to be the first female president, closed her campaign in Guadalajara. Mexicans will also be voting for a new congress and several state governors in the election. Wednesday's rallies capped a long, expensive and at times bitter election campaign, which... | | Uranium outlook remains positive - RCR Jun 28th 2012, 08:30 PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Despite the uranium equity markets declining over the past three months, the mid-term outlook for yellowcake was seemingly positive, equity research company Resource Capital Research (RCR) said on Thursday. “The contract uranium price has started moving up again, reflecting the fact nuclear remains a key aspect of energy policy for many countries including China, India, Russia and the USA,” said RCR MD John Wilson. “There are currently 489 nuclear energy... | | Western donors could learn from Brazil's new brand of development aid Jun 28th 2012, 07:03 Rather than advising governments on what should work, as the west does, Brazil exports success – its south-south co-operation is based directly on what has already worked Understanding the agriculture sector in the last 10 years or so has been the mainstay of Brazil's economic and social progress. Photograph: Paulo Whitaker/Reuters Technical advice and capacity building have been central to much of western aid over the past few decades but examples of success are hard to come by. On a recent visit to Brazil I was struck by the confidence with which many of those involved in fleshing out what might be described as the Brazil model of south-south co-operation insisted that they would succeed... | |
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