International

• Tuesday, April 12th 2016 - 22:07 UTC

  EU farmers claim trade deal with Mercosur represents an “unacceptable risk”

  

  The first reactions to the announced Mercosur-European trade deal and exchange of proposals next week have surfaced. The Ulster Farmers’ Union president, Ian Marshall, says the European Union trade deal on offer to Mercosur countries is an ‘unacceptable risk’ to the livelihoods of farmers in Northern Ireland.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2016 - 09:11 UTC

  First jet aircraft lands at St Helena recently finished airport

  

  Great day of the British Overseas Territory of St Helena: the first jet aircraft landed at the recently concluded airport in the island located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The business jet was chartered by Air Safety Support International (ASSI) to bring its team of five personnel to St Helena to assess St Helena Airport.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2016 - 09:00 UTC

  Don’t Blame Panama. Tax Evasion Is a Global Problem.

  

  By Juan Carlos Varela (*) - The following was published by The New York Times in The Opinion Pages. DESPITE their name, the Panama Papers are not mainly about Panama. They are not even primarily concerned with Panamanian companies. The more than 11 million documents, illegally hacked and released last week relating to previously undisclosed “offshore” corporations, is roiling the world with revelations of the vulnerability for rampant abuse of legal financial structures by the wealthy.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2016 - 07:25 UTC

  OAS calls for deep reforms in Peruvian electoral system, following Sundays vote

  

  The OAS Electoral Observation Mission (EOM/OAS) to the general elections in Peru presented on Monday its preliminary technical report on Sunday’s general election, in which it recommends a deep electoral reform, including the system of disqualification of candidates.

• Monday, April 11th 2016 - 05:46 UTC

  Argentina ready to formally join the IMF fold; Prat-Gay to meet Lagarde this week

  

  Argentina will start discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week on its first Article IV review in a decade, Finance Minister Alfonso Prat Gay said at a conference held by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) in Nassau. “Next week we are going to have a discussion (with the IMF) to agree on an actual schedule for the next Article IV evaluation, which will happen sometime around September,” Prat Gay told the audience on Sunday.

• Saturday, April 9th 2016 - 16:39 UTC

  Argentina begins next Monday road-show in UK and US to raise US$ 15bn

  

  Argentine representatives will begin meeting investors Monday as the country returns to the international bond market for the first time in 15 years, it was announced by Economy minister Alfonso Prat-Gay from Bahamas, where he is attending the Inter American Bank annual assembly.

• Saturday, April 9th 2016 - 16:13 UTC

  EU and Mercosur agree to exchange market access offers in second week of May

  

  The European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and Rodolfo Nin Novoa, Foreign Minister of Uruguay, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the South American trading bloc Mercosur, agreed on Friday in Brussels on the next steps in the negotiations on an EU-Mercosur trade agreement.

• Saturday, April 9th 2016 - 15:21 UTC

  Argentine judge will certify Macri's assets' statement; president pledges blind trust

  

  Argentine president Mauricio Macri on Friday requested a court to certify his declaration of assets in order to clear up any doubts following the surfacing of his name in a couple of offshore companies, according to the so called Panama Papers. Lawyer Felipe Llerena presented a writ before the Civil Appeals Court in Buenos Aires.

• Saturday, April 9th 2016 - 14:59 UTC

  Panama Papers: EU warning; questions why no US or German prominent names have surfaced

  

  A European Union official threatened to sanction Panama and other nations if they don’t cooperate fully to fight money laundering and tax evasion, after a leak of data showed the small country remains a key destination for people who want to hide money.

• Friday, April 8th 2016 - 08:05 UTC

  Cameron finally admits he owned shares in an offshore trust, which he sold in 2010

  

  British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he and his wife Samantha owned shares in an offshore trust set up by his late father, before selling them for £30,000 in 2010. The PM has faced questions over Blairmore Holdings, an offshore company set up by his late father, Ian, and finally on Thursday he old ITV News he had paid all UK taxes due on the profits he made from the sale of the shares and said the firm had not been set up to avoid tax.