Stories for August 12th 2013

Monday, August 12th 2013 - 18:21 UTC
Pope calls for respect for human life from conception; sends Ramadan message to Muslims

Respect for human life from conception until natural death is something children must be taught, not mainly with words, but by the example of their parents, Pope Francis said. “Parents are called to pass on to their children the awareness that life must always be defended,” Pope Francis wrote in a message to people joining in the Brazilian Catholic Church's celebration of Family Week, which began August 11.
Monday, August 12th 2013 - 18:15 UTC
Assange says Americans have a debt of gratitude with leaker Snowden

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says Americans owe US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden a debt of gratitude because his leaks prompted President Barack Obama to promise an overhaul of secret surveillance.
Monday, August 12th 2013 - 18:10 UTC
Brazil and Uruguay want a “two speeds” Mercosur agreement with the EU

Brazil and Uruguay want to speed a trade agreement with the European Union but without abandoning Mercosur, and making it clear that they are willing to advance at “a different speed” than the rest of the group’s members, revealed a reliable source from the government of President Jose Mujica in Montevideo.
Monday, August 12th 2013 - 18:06 UTC
EU confirms no block-to-individual Mercosur member trade negotiation has been requested

The 28-country European Union underscored the potential benefits of a free trade agreement with Mercosur and revealed that so far no country member of the group has requested to a bilateral negotiation.
Monday, August 12th 2013 - 18:03 UTC
Brazil urged for agreement with EU, since next year it will lose trade preferences

Brazil, Latin America‘s biggest economy, is planning to try to negotiate a separate trade deal with the European Union, Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota said in remarks published Monday.
Monday, August 12th 2013 - 07:25 UTC
Uruguay hosts four-day long UN conference on population development

Uruguay together with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) are holding a four day conference in Montevideo as of Monday under the heading of First session of the regional conference on population and development in Latam and the Caribbean.
Monday, August 12th 2013 - 01:45 UTC
Falklands and Gibraltar: Spain considering a joint front with Argentina at UN, says Madrid media

Spanish Foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo will be visiting Argentina next September to meet with his peer Hector Timerman to discuss the Gibraltar and Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty disputes and consider the possibility of a joint front.
Monday, August 12th 2013 - 01:24 UTC
Cristina Fernandez defeated in Argentina’s main electoral districts; Massa pledges ‘end to confrontation’

President Cristina Fernandez Victory Front managed to remain as the leading political force nationwide on Sunday’s congressional primaries but her opponents emerged exceptionally strong in the all-important province of Buenos Aires and the other main districts of the country, to the extent that some political analysts anticipate the beginning of the end of the ten years of Kirchnerism.
Monday, August 12th 2013 - 01:09 UTC
Brazil to auction Rio do Janeiro and Belo Horizonte airports concessions

An auction to privatize airports in Rio and Belo Horizonte, two host cities for the 2014 World Cup, will be held on October 31, Brazilian authorities have announced.