Stories for June 2011

Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 16:41 UTC
Argentina gas earmarked for domestic consumption, not export, says minister

Argentina won't become a natural gas exporter under the current government even if potentially massive deposits of unconventional gas turn out to more than enough to supply the domestic market, announced Planning minister Julio De Vido.
Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 16:36 UTC
Uruguay considers China a ‘strategic partner’ and supports a Beijing-Mercosur trade accord

Uruguay sees China as a ‘strategic partner’ and has kept good relations with Beijing since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in 1988, said Uruguayan Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro, a former ambassador to China from 2007-2009. Almagro made the statement as Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping begun his official visit to Uruguay.
Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 06:40 UTC
Ban Ki-moon receives US support for his UN Secretary General second term

US President Barack Obama supports UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's bid for a second term and believes he has made important reforms at an institution that is imperfect, the White House said on Tuesday.
Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 06:37 UTC
Air traffic in Buenos Aires and Montevideo returns to normal as ash cloud disperses

Argentina’s Civil Aviation agency (ANAC) and the Secretariat of Transport announced that the Ezeiza and Aeroparque airports are “now open and operating normally” as the ash cloud spewed by Chile’s Puyehue volcano late Tuesday seemed to be moving away from the Buenos Aires City and part of the River Plate area.
Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 06:29 UTC
Humala’s victory in Peru seen from neighbouring but distant Chile

Sunday marked the end of a drawn out campaign for Peru’s presidency, as centre-left candidate Ollanta Humala claimed a narrow victory over centre-right candidate Keiko Fujimori.
Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 06:26 UTC
Relatives of Cuban political prisoner Zapata Tamayo leave with his ashes for Miami

The body of political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, whose death by hunger strike last year provoked international criticism of Cuba was exhumed for cremation Tuesday, his family said, enabling them to take his remains when they emigrate to the United States.
Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 06:23 UTC
French team retrieves all salvageable bodies from 3.900 metres deep Atlantic

The French search team has retrieved all salvageable bodies from the sunken wreckage of an Air France airliner which crashed in the sea off Brazil two years ago, victims' families said on Tuesday.
Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 06:13 UTC
Humala calls US a ‘strategic partner’ and plans to discuss taxes with corporations

Peru's nationalist president-elect Ollanta Humala said on Tuesday he will chart his own course, described the US as a ‘strategic partner’ and promised to discuss with mining companies his plans to tax windfall earnings to pay for social programs.
Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 06:09 UTC
IMF chief hopeful Lagarde in China after a ‘no commitment’ from India

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde is expected in Beijing after having visited India where officials made a ‘no commitment’ in support of her IMF candidacy. On the weekend her whirlwind global tour takes her to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 06:05 UTC
Croatia is “ready to join EU” and “good news” expected on Friday

The European Commission will recommend that EU member governments finalize accession talks with Croatia, clearing an important hurdle on Zagreb's path to joining the 27-strong bloc.