La Estrella – The construction of the third set of locks for the expansion of the Panama Canal will begin in January 2010, said yesterday executive director of the consortium that won the bidding for the project, Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), Antonio Zaffaroni. “We are at the beginning and there are many bureaucratic [...]

PANAMA – The social program Opportunities Network, designed by the last president administration, will be revived by the present Panamanian government next November, reported official sources.
Guillermo Ferrufino, Minister of Social Development, pointed out he will reintroduce the mechanism, before many no-work months which generated worries among the thousands of people benefited by the initiative.
Authorities will [...]

By Kathyria Caicedo for Telemetro Reporta – Kela Leon, the Director of the Peruvian Press Council, confirmed on this morning’s Telemetro Reporta newscast, that Panama’s Minister of Government and Justice, Jose Raul Mulino, had made strong accusations against the Panamanian press corps.
The Peruvian journalist Mulino said the Minister told him there was a payroll he [...]

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com – Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended on the “11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month” of 1918, with the German signing of the Armistice, which is why Veteran’s Day is celebrated on 11 November every year. This morning the military community in Panama celebrated [...]

La Prensa – The National Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (Idaan) reported this morning that its staff yesterday cut water service to an additional 426 homes located in the neighborhoods of Condado del Rey, Altos de Panamá, Bethania, El Dorado, La Locería and Dos Mares.
“The initiative was successful because 410 people arrived at the headquarters [...]

During a visit to the district of Soná, in Veraguas, President of the Republic Ricardo Martinelli said, “Soon” he will make known additional changes to the team of his government.
Martinelli did not specify dates for the announcements of these changes.
He did, however, reiterate that the National Assembly would convene extraordinary sessions, where they are slated [...]

By Cynthia Sanchez for the Panama America – The business sector is optimistic that the Panamanian economy is likely to increase between 5% and 6% in 2010 compared to 2009, which will reach only 3% growth due mostly to the international financial crisis that affected Panama. The president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry [...]

La Prensa – President Ricardo Martinelli instructed his ministers to eliminate budgetary allocations to pay for “unnecessary” advice and consulting services. Martinelli said that money should stay in a fund earmarked for salary increases for the thousands of public servants who today are paid minimum wage. This decision was announced by Vice President of the [...]

(AP) PANAMA CITY — Panama’s government is building four air and sea monitoring stations to fight trafficking of drugs, weapons and migrants. The bases are to be located on the Pacific coast on routes used to smuggle drugs and transport laundered money.
Assistant Interior Minister Alejandro Garuz said Monday the sites will be manned by the [...]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – South Korean, Colombian and Panamanian officials said on Wednesday they hoped for U.S congressional approval of pending free trade agreements by the middle of 2010.
South Korean Ambassador Han Duk-soo said he saw “a short window of opportunity” for Congress to approve the U.S.-South Korea free trade deal by June.
Otherwise, action on the two-year-old [...]

Livestock prices have fallen recently as farmers are reluctant to make purchases because of uncertainties surrounding the weather and the continuance of government subsidies.
In the months of September and October, the price of a cow at auction has fallen to 44 cents a pound, a 6-cent decrease, as compared to the same period last [...]

Panama’s ambassador to the U.S., Jaime Alemán Healy, met with senior Indiana Republican Sen. Richard Lugar to discuss the importance of the U.S. Congress ratifying a trade agreement between the two countries.
The meeting, held two days ago, is one of many efforts the Panamanian diplomat has made to create a favorable environment for the treaty.
Healy, [...]

By Joshua Melvin – San Mateo County Times SAN FRANCISCO — A hedge fund manager from Colma pleaded guilty Tuesday to running a scam that cost investors at least $8.3 million over nearly a decade, federal prosecutors said. Alexander Trabulse, 62, who managed San Francisco-based hedge funds known as the Fahey Hedge Fund and Fahey [...]

By DEIVIS ELIECER CERRUD for La Estrella - Deputies of the National Assembly will discuss the controversial land titling project in November. PANAMA. Debates over the controversial bill that recognizes the rights of possession on coastal and island land will continue in November. Yesterday the President of the National Assembly, José Luis ‘Popi’ Varela, confirmed that [...]

By JOSÉ GONZÁLEZ PINILLA for La Prensa – Panama’s National Assembly approved on third reading early Saturday morning a new law that establishes a maximum prison sentence of 50 years.
The current Penal Code establishes a maximum penalty of 35 years. With the new law penalties for offenses committed by a single person or independently can [...]

Responding to the recent reforms of the Criminal Code, Vice-President of the Republic, Juan Carlos Varela, informed on TVN Channel 2 news that while he is an advocate of crime prevention, he is in agreement with the increase in prison sentences.
The VP argued that an increase in prison time for convicted murderers is necessary, because [...]

By: Liezel Hill – TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canada’s Inmet Mining is on schedule to have the final social and environmental impact study ready and finalise the front-end engineering and design (Feed) for its Cobre Panama project by the first quarter of 2010, president and COO Jochen Tilk confirmed on Wednesday.
The company has completed a drilling [...]

The murder rate rose significantly in Panama in 2008, and safety has become a topic of great concern among the Panamanian population, warned a recent study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The 2009-2010 UNDP Human Development Report for Central America released last Tuesday in Panama City argued that the homicide rate in 2008 was [...]

By ARTURO CARLOS CASTILLO for La Estrella – Yet another complaint was filed against Panama’s Attorney General, Ana Matilde Gomez, before the Office of Administration, this time by the former Representative of the District of Chepo, Ismael Batista, who accuses her of having recorded his telephone conversations.
Batista said the prosecutor, by means of a resolution, [...]

TVN Noticias – The Minister of the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, Giselle de Calcagno, resigned today from the Partido Revolucionario Democratico (PRD) today, saying she did so voluntarily because she sees no future for a party run by the left. She resigned in the Electoral Tribunal, accompanied by her followers.
Calcagno’s resignation provoked reactions [...]