International

• Wednesday, April 5th 2017 - 05:06 UTC

  Mine Action Day 2017: OAS calls on regional countries to continue clearing landmines

  

  On this International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action 2017, the Organization of American States (OAS) wishes to highlight the many significant advances toward the goal of making the Americas the first landmine-free zone in the world.

• Wednesday, April 5th 2017 - 04:59 UTC

  “Peace incomplete without demining”, says UN chief on Mine Awareness International Day

  

  On recalling the International Day for World Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged all Governments to remember landmines and explosive remnants of war when discussing peace agreements or when sending urgent humanitarian aid to conflict zones.

• Tuesday, April 4th 2017 - 09:55 UTC

  Maduro gained his true objective: sweeping authority to cut oil deals on behalf of PDVSA

  

  Venezuelan Supreme Court reversal decision to take over the opposition-led congress seems to have yielded to domestic and international pressure, but it still gives embattled populist President Nicolas Maduro broad new powers over the country´s vast oil wealth, which now appears to have been his true target.

• Tuesday, April 4th 2017 - 07:39 UTC

  MPs question UK government's claim that a Brexit “no deal is better than a bad deal”

  

  MPs have warned about the UK and the EU failing to reach a Brexit agreement, urging the government to work out how much “no deal” would cost. The Brexit committee said ministers' claim that “no deal is better than a bad deal” was “unsubstantiated” until an economic assessment was published. But the report divided the cross-party committee, with some members saying it was too pessimistic about Brexit.

• Tuesday, April 4th 2017 - 07:32 UTC

  Trump administration begins to cut UN funding: UNFPA first target

  

  United States has withdrawn funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an agency that promotes family planning in more than 150 countries. The state department said the UNFPA “supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization”.

• Tuesday, April 4th 2017 - 07:20 UTC

  Spain surprised by tone of UK comments on Gibraltar; CM Picardo critical of EU Council president Tusk

  

  Spain’s Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis called on Tuesday for calm in the row over Gibraltar’s inclusion in the EU guidelines, adding that he was surprised by the reactions in Britain. He was speaking amid a media frenzy after the EU said in its guidelines that Spain must agree before any future trade deal between the UK and the EU can be extended to Gibraltar.

• Monday, April 3rd 2017 - 13:27 UTC

  Irish farmers want meat removed from Mercosur/EU trade talks

  

  The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) is pushing to have meat removed from the proposed trade deal between Europe and Mercosur in the wake of Brazil’s meat scandal. The move could scupper the entire trade deal given the importance of the meat industry to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

• Monday, April 3rd 2017 - 12:13 UTC

  Very Large Ore carrier with 260.000 tons o iron ore disappears in mid Atlantic

  

  A South Korean ship carrying thousands of tons of iron ore and a crew of 24 has vanished in the South Atlantic after setting out from a port in Brazil. Two Filipino sailors were rescued on Sunday from a life raft and are expected to give investigators details of how and why the Stellar Daisy foundered as it headed south.

• Monday, April 3rd 2017 - 10:37 UTC

  Macri mixed local politics in the Malvinas Fallen and Veterans Day anniversary

  

  Argentine president Mauricio Macri underlined that dialogue will facilitate the Malvinas sovereignty non-renounceable claim and ensure that it is really effective. The Argentine leader was addressing a delegation of Malvinas Fallen Relatives and Veterans, at the Olivos presidential residence on Sunday which marked the 35th anniversary of the beginning of the South Atlantic conflict in 1982.

• Monday, April 3rd 2017 - 10:33 UTC

  Bertone invites Falkland Islanders to become Tierra del Fuego citizens

  

  Tierra del Fuego governor Rosana Bertone called the Falkland Islanders “fueguinos” and invited them to integrate based on respect for “cultural diversity”. Ms Bertone was addressing the crowd on Sunday at the Malvinas Fallen monument in Ushuaia on Sunday, 35th anniversary of the Argentine military invasion of the Falklands and which according to the local calendar is the Malvinas Veterans and Fallen Day.