Argentina

• Monday, January 8th 2018 - 05:53 UTC

  Argentina dismantling the extortive power of the corrupt unions

  

  A member of Argentina's elite of powerful union sharks has been arrested in Uruguay at his Great Chaparral ranch and is awaiting extradition to Buenos Aires to face charges of corruption, money laundering, extortion, stealing funds and links with the drugs business, among others.

• Saturday, January 6th 2018 - 09:45 UTC

  Argentine stock market reaches a new record, 13th session running of gains

  

  Good and not so good news from Argentina. Merval, the main index of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, rose 0.79% to 32,505.59 points on Friday, a new settlement record that marked the 13th consecutive session of gains to the Argentine stock market. Merval had a weekly gain of 7.11%.

• Friday, January 5th 2018 - 10:44 UTC

  Crackdown on phantom employees, “gnocchi”, in the Argentine Congress

  

  Nearly 200 phantom workers at Argentina's parliament have been caught in a crackdown on employees who only show up sporadically for their jobs, it has been reported. According to La Nacion, the Argentine Congress implemented a new attendance control system for employees two months ago, and it has already caught 190 who had not shown up for long periods without a good explanation.

• Friday, January 5th 2018 - 10:39 UTC

  Chinese locomotives to revive Argentina's cargo train network

  

  A new shipment of Chinese-made locomotives arrived in the Port of Buenos Aires on Wednesday to revive Argentina's key Belgrano Cargas cargo train network. The eight locomotives will form part of a strategic rail line that traverses northern Argentina's agricultural heartland and connects producers with the eastern exporting hub of Rosario, a port located 300 km north of the capital.

• Friday, January 5th 2018 - 10:25 UTC

  Drought in north Argentina seriously delaying plating of soy and corn

  

  The drought in Argentina continues in several regions and has generated a delay of planting for the 2017-18 season. A report authored by the institution AgroEducación indicated that La Niña, though subtle, already impacts the region with temperatures above normal and scarce rains.

• Friday, January 5th 2018 - 10:20 UTC

  Argentina sells US$ 9bn in bonds, “at the lowest yields in the country's history”

  

  Argentina sold US$ 9 billion in a three-part dollar bond issuance that was oversubscribed on Thursday, covering nearly a third of its expected financing needs for 2018 early in the year. Latin America’s third largest economy sold US$1.75 billion in five-year bonds at a yield of 4.625%, US$ 4.25 billion of 10-year bonds at 6% and US$3 billion in 30-year bonds at 7%, the ministry said. It said the yields were the lowest in Argentina’s history.

• Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 - 18:17 UTC

  Russian navy's “Yantar”, oceanographic or state of the art “spy vessel”?

  

  The Russian navy is very proud of its new spy ship, the Yantar, which is now doing Argentina a favor by helping to search for a missing submarine, ARA San Juan, which disappeared on 15 November in the South Atlantic.

• Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 - 10:19 UTC

  Lack of rainfall in Buenos Aires province affecting soy planting and prices

  

  Argentina's bread-basket province of Buenos Aires will remain mostly dry over the days ahead, meteorologists said on Tuesday, after reporting scant rains over the weekend in the country's biggest and most productive farm area.

• Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 - 06:36 UTC

  Argentina recalls when Malvinas Islands were “illegally” occupied by British forces

  

  In advance of January 3rd, when Argentina recalls the date in 1833 in which allegedly British forces “illegally” occupied the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, the foreign ministry, Palacio San Martín, released a statement reaffirming its imprescriptible and inalienable sovereignty rights over the South Atlantic archipelago. This is the 185th anniversary of the event.

• Tuesday, January 2nd 2018 - 06:55 UTC

  Icebreaker Irizar calls at Ushuaia on her 2017/18 Antarctica campaign

  

  Argentina's flagship of Antarctica operations is back after ten long years. The refurbished icebreaker ARA Almirante Irizar, called at Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, on New Year before leaving for the 2017/18 summer campaign.