News about Layouts

Sunday, May 29, 2011 

Fiat announced on Friday that it intends to purchase the six percent of automaker Chrysler that the US government currently owns, which would give the Italian company a 52 percent majority stake in Chrysler.

According to Fiat’s announcement, the company has told the US Treasury that it intends to use its option to buy the share in Chrysler held by the US government, a deal that will be finalized by June 10. If a price is not agreed on by that time, Fiat will pay the average of the estimates of two investment banks.

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Saturday, May 28, 2011 

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Saturday, May 28, 2011 

Paraguayan Ambassador to Chile Terumi Matsuo visited Pichilemu as a denouncement of trafficking of persons from Paraguay in the Pichileminian hacienda of San Antonio de Petrel, currently property of politician Francisco Javier Errázuriz Talavera, prompted an investigation. The investigation is being conducted by the Government of Cardenal Caro Province, and the Immigration Department of the Investigations Police of Chile (PDI). Errázuriz Talavera is also known by its nickname, Fra Fra.

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Saturday, May 28, 2011 

Ratko Mladić, otherwise known as “The Butcher of Bosnia,” has been arrested after being sought for over a decade. The 69-year-old former Serbian general and war crimes suspect was arrested on May 26 by Serbian special police in Lazarevo, Serbia. Mladić was accused of war crimes shortly after the 1992–1995 Bosnian War. He was wanted for genocide and crimes against humanity, including the orchestration of a massacre of over 8000 Muslim Bosniak men and boys in Srebrenica.

The arrest has prompted protests from Serbian nationalists, who herald Mladić as a national hero and patriot. However, the international reaction to Mladić’s capture is more positive. French President Nicolas Sarkozy praised Serbia’s actions, saying it is another step for Serbia on the path to joining the European Union. Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt gave similar praise, saying that the Serbia’s prospects of joining the EU are “brighter than ever.”

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Saturday, May 28, 2011 

In Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, part of an underground water piping system has exploded, forcing local residents to be evacuated. The pipe broke around 03:30 BST (0230 UTC) today, within Allan Park Road, causing flooding in the Slateford area of the city.

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Friday, May 27, 2011 

The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner has questioned Australia’s tough asylum seeker policies this week, stating that Australia’s mandatory detention regime has “cast a shadow” over its human rights record. Navi Pillay, the UN’s Human Rights watchdog, was particularly critical of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s asylum seeker trade deal with Malaysia.

This bilateral agreement, if signed, would see 800 refugees attempting to get to Australia by boat immediately transported to Malaysia instead. In return, Australia would take 4,000 genuine refugees from Malaysia over a space of four years. However, Malaysia has not signed either the international Refugee Convention, or the Convention Against Torture. In an interview with the ABC, Ms Pillay voiced concern over this, stating that Australia may “violate refugee law” by sending asylum seekers to a country where no laws are in place to protect them.

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Germany’s ruling coalition says that it has agreed a date of 2022 for the shutdown of all of its nuclear power plants.

The yuan hits a record high against the US dollar as the US Treasury department says the Chinese currency is not manipulated.

Christine Lagarde plans to visit China, India and Brazil to drum up support for her bid to head the International Monetary Fund.

US defence contractor Lockheed Martin says it has thwarted a significant cyber-attack.