International

• Wednesday, April 5th 2017 - 06:22 UTC

  IDB ends annual meeting with agreement to replenish innovation fund

  

  The Inter-American Development Bank and the Inter-American Investment Corporation wrapped up the annual meeting of their Boards of Governors after reaching an agreement to replenish the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), the IDB Group’s innovation lab.

• Wednesday, April 5th 2017 - 05:30 UTC

  UK candidate for WHO Director General, David Nabarro, visits Uruguay

  

  Dr David Nabarro, one of the three candidates for Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), visited Uruguay 23-24 March. During his stay he met with Health Minister Jorge Basso and Vice Minister Cristina Lustemberg, and with Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa, to explain his objectives and his vision for a better WHO, and to hear about Uruguay’s health situation, objectives and challenges.

• Wednesday, April 5th 2017 - 05:19 UTC

  St Petersburg Metro terrorist identified: 22-year old Kyrgyz born Russian citizen; death toll increases to 14

  

  The Russian Investigative Committee has identified 22-year-old Akbarzhon Dzhalilov, a Kyrgyz-born Russian citizen, as the suspect believed to have carried out the terrorist bombing in the Saint Petersburg Metro.

• 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.