MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Stories for December 2003
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Tuesday, December 16th 2003 - 20:00 UTC
ARA Irizar begins Antarctic season
Argentine Navy icebreaker “Almirante Irizar” sails from Buenos Aires this Monday to begin the “full” Antarctic 2003/2004 campaign.
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Tuesday, December 16th 2003 - 20:00 UTC
Iraqi oil for Repsol-YPF
The Spanish Argentine oil company Repsol-YPF confirmed a contract to purchase oil from Iraq. This is Repsol-YPF's second contract since coalition forces ousted former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
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Tuesday, December 16th 2003 - 20:00 UTC
Killing of US journalist in 1973 in Chile almost solved
A Santiago Court of Appeals upheld a ruling this Monday contrary to a former Chilean Air Force intelligence agent accused of participating in the 1973 murder of U.S. journalist Charles Horman, whose case inspired the film “Missing.”
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Tuesday, December 16th 2003 - 20:00 UTC
EU extends preferential tariffs until 2005
The European Union Council of Ministers decided this Monday in Brussels to extend for another year, 2005, the preferential tariffs it grants to developing countries and which represent benefits for the Andean and Central American countries, according to EU sources.
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Tuesday, December 16th 2003 - 20:00 UTC
Trade discussion unchanged, but there's a “window” of hope
Members of the World Trade Organization, WTO failed in Geneva to reach an agreement for the relaunching of trade talks but officials are hopeful that at the beginning of the politically loaded 2004, progress can be achieved.
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Tuesday, December 16th 2003 - 20:00 UTC
IMF approves extension of Brazilian stand-by loan
The International Monetary Fund approved this Monday a fifteen months extension and increase in 6,6 billion US dollars of Brazil's stand-by credit originally approved in September 2002, taking the overall sum available to 14 billion US dollars. The IMF Board also approved a request to extend the deadline for loan repayments involving 5,8 billion US dollars that fall due in 2005 and 2006.
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Monday, December 15th 2003 - 20:00 UTC
Straw cautions over ever increasing OT autonomy
The United Kingdom cannot offer an ever-increasing degree of autonomy which would prevent it from meeting its obligations and from protecting its liabilities and responsibilities, was the clear message spelt out by Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, when he addressed Overseas Territories' leaders at the Overseas Territories Consultative Council, OTCC last week in London.
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Monday, December 15th 2003 - 20:00 UTC
EU praises G-20 and blasts US.
European Union Trade Commissar Pascal Lamy addressing the G-20 in Brasilia said that negotiations to make “protectionism more flexible” had begun and underlined the need to differentiate the EU position from the United States less flexible stand.
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Monday, December 15th 2003 - 20:00 UTC
Crucial Congressional victory for Lula da Silva.
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva finally achieved a crucial piece of his administration's program when last week the Senate approved 51-24 a sweeping reform of the deficit ridden pension system.
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Monday, December 15th 2003 - 20:00 UTC
Pressure to repeal “bribed” labour reform bill.
A majority of Argentine Congress members are considering the repeal of a labour reform bill following revelations from a former Senate official that several Senators had been bribed in 2000 to have the bill approved.
