Argentina

• Wednesday, December 20th 2017 - 08:37 UTC

  Despite the violence and protests, Argentina's pension reform bill is passed

  

  Argentina’s president defended a pension reform bill approved by Congress in the early hours of Tuesday that has prompted violent protests and a general strike, saying it seeks only to benefit retirees. The measure passed in the lower house by a 127-117 vote after more than 12 hours of debate, much of which came as demonstrators clashed with police outside the chamber.

• Tuesday, December 19th 2017 - 12:50 UTC

  Second chapter of Buenos Aires battle over pension overhaul; 24 hour general strike

  

  Police and protesters clashed on Monday outside Argentina’s Congress as lawmakers debated a proposed pension overhaul that has angered retirees and prompted union leaders to wage a general strike.

• Monday, December 18th 2017 - 07:16 UTC

  Argentina ready for another attempt to approve the pension reform bill on Monday

  

  The government of Argentina has decided to vote on the pension reform bill on Monday amid speculation that President Mauricio Macri's administration could use a decree to fast-track the legislation.

• Saturday, December 16th 2017 - 17:18 UTC

  Argentina sacks the head of the Navy, first disciplinary action since the loss of ARA San Juan

  

  Argentina fired the head of its navy a month after a submarine disappeared in the South Atlantic with 44 crew members onboard, a government spokesman said on Saturday. Local paper La Nacion had reported earlier, citing anonymous sources, that Navy Admiral Marcelo Eduardo Hipolito Srur was let go by the defense minister.

• Friday, December 15th 2017 - 07:51 UTC

  Violent protests in Buenos Aires as Congress attempted to discuss a pensions reform plan

  

  A trade union-organized march in Buenos Aires descended into violence Thursday, with thousands of protesters clashing with police as they demanded lawmakers reject a controversial pension reform plan. Riot police used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets against demonstrators, who threw stones and burned barricades made of rubbish outside the doors of Argentina's congress.

• Friday, December 15th 2017 - 07:01 UTC

  Argentina prepares to fight Zica with sterile mosquitoes by radiation

  

  After its success in controlling a devastating fruit fly with nuclear technology, Argentina is gearing up to fight a new enemy: mosquitoes that transmit Zika, in addition to dengue and chikungunya. The method applied in both cases is the sterile insect technique, SIT, an insect birth control method that uses irradiation to sterilize and release insects to suppress pest populations.

• Thursday, December 14th 2017 - 07:16 UTC

  ARA San Juan: Russia's Yantar expected to return to surveying next week

  

  The Russian Navy’s ocean survey vessel Yantar had to leave the search area for Argentina’s San Juan submarine, but is expected to return on December 19, Argentine Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi said on Wednesday.

• Thursday, December 14th 2017 - 05:22 UTC

  The long shadow of Trump frustrated the WTO ministerial meeting in Argentina

  

  The World Trade Organization meeting in Buenos Aires concluded a ministerial meeting Wednesday with nothing significant to boast -- a meager outcome for its first gathering in the Donald Trump era.

• Wednesday, December 13th 2017 - 08:43 UTC

  Timerman denied release from house arrest, despite a very delicate medical condition

  

  Federal Judge Claudio Bonadio denied on Tuesday a request for the release of Argentine ex foreign minister Hector Timerman who will remain under house arrest as part of the case in which he was indicted for treason and cover up of the investigation into the 1994 AMIA Jewish organization attack in Buenos Aires.

• Wednesday, December 13th 2017 - 08:14 UTC

  Russia and EU ready to discuss mutual lifting of trade restrictions, says Moscow

  

  Russian Economy Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said after the meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom on the sidelines of the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference in Argentina that Russia and the European Union have agreed to discuss the mutual lifting of trade restrictions.