The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled on Tuesday in favor of Argentina in a series of complaints the country filed with the international body, challenging punitive duties by the European Union on its biodiesel imports. The WTO, however, said the EU was not violating its rules.
A statement released earlier this afternoon from the Falkland Islands Government regarding the UN announcement of the extension of the Argentine continental shelf states that the announcement makes “no adjudication on the sovereignty of the Falkland Island and has no implications for the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands”.
Lawmaker from president Mauricio Macri ruling “Let's Change” group, Eduardo Amadeo, celebrated the UN recognition of Argentina's continental shelf extension presentation which means a strong support in the Malvinas Islands' sovereignty dispute with the UK, but also increased the country's territory by at least 35%.
The Falkland Islands Government, FIG, reacted to the Tuesday official Argentine announcement of its extension of the continental shelf saying it was waiting clarification from the UK government on the implications, if any for the Islands. What is certain is that it does not affect fisheries or squid catches, one of the Islands main source of income.
The new map of Argentina, implemented by the UN resolution that extends the country's continental shelf is an example of “State policy”, since it's a claim that has been elaborated in international forums for over twenty years under different governments, underlined president Mauricio Macri, following the official announcement on Tuesday.
Argentina on Monday made the official presentation of the outer limit of its continental platform, passed by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, CLCS, on March 11, during a media conference which included officials from the foreign ministry, officers from the Navy and Coast Guard, scientists and lawmakers.
The Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR), the body behind the Japanese government’s whaling program, announced the return of the Japanese whaling fleet from its Antarctic operations. It is the first time that the Japanese whalers have returned to the Southern Ocean to slaughter whales since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled its whaling program to be illegal in 2014.
Argentine ambassador to Beijing Diego Guelar confirmed a meeting between President Mauricio Macri and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next April first on the margins of the Nuclear Security Summit that begins next week in Washington and anticipated an official visit to China by Macri in September.
Foreign minister Susana Malcorra is scheduled to officially announce on Monday the external limit of Argentina's continental shelf based on a unanimous decision from the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, (dependent from the Oceans and Law of the Sea), which adds to Argentina's shelf 1.7 million square kilometers, apparently confirming areas surrounding the Falklands/Malvinas, other South Atlantic islands and the Antarctica Argentine sector.
On Friday, the Rolling Stones became the first major international rock band to play in Cuba, drawing hundreds of thousands of people to a free concert at a decrepit sports complex on the road to the airport. For years, following the Cuban revolution, rock music was banned on Cuban state TV and radio. Cubans who wore long hair and beards faced harassment from officials, including Fidel Castro who told them to dress like men.