International

• Tuesday, April 1st 2014 - 03:41 UTC

  Hollande changes policy and names pro-business prime minister

  

  French President Francois Hollande has chosen centrist Interior Minister Manuel Valls as his new prime minister, replacing Jean-Marc Ayrault who quit after the ruling Socialists were trounced in local elections. The 51-year-old Valls has been compared with “New Labor” former British premier Tony Blair both for his pro-business ideas and his dashing style.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 19:28 UTC

  Mercosur expects to exchange tariff-reduction proposals with EU next June

  

  Mercosur expects to present a joint proposal regarding tariff reductions to the European Union during a meeting next June, according to Brazil's Minister of Development, Trade and Industry, Mauro Borges who apparently convinced a reluctant Argentina to join the group.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 16:29 UTC

  Japan abides International Court of Justice ruling to halt whaling program

  

  The UN's International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Japan must temporarily halt its whaling program in the Antarctic. It agreed with Australia, which brought the case in May 2010, that the program was not for scientific research as claimed by Tokyo.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 15:53 UTC

  “Black Sunday” for French Socialists, although they managed to retain Paris

  

  French President Francois Hollande is set to take the axe to his beleaguered government after it suffered humiliating losses in local elections in which the far-right National Front (FN) made historic gains.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 11:50 UTC

  Nobel 1936 Peace Prize medal, originally extended to an Argentine, auctioned at 1.1 million

  

  A 1936 Nobel Peace Prize medal, only the second such medal to be sold at auction, has fetched 1.1 million dollars in a sale to a private Asian collector, auctioneers Stack's Bowers said on Friday.

• Saturday, March 29th 2014 - 06:20 UTC

  UK remains “the US most capable and interoperable ally” in defense issues

  

  UK Defense Secretary Philip Hammond has been talking about why the UK and US must remain partners of choice in defense. This week Mr Hammond gave a speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC about the special relationship that exists between the UK and the US, describing the UK as the most capable and interoperable ally.

• Saturday, March 29th 2014 - 05:46 UTC

  Argentina takes EU biodiesel antidumping measures to WTO

  

  Argentina formally requested the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) the establishment of a panel to address the European Union antidumping measures against Argentine bio-diesel. The initiative was rejected by the EU this week.

• Saturday, March 29th 2014 - 05:29 UTC

  Repsol infighting reveals disappointment with CEO Brufau

  

  Shareholders of Spain's Repsol approved the oil major's 5 billion dollars settlement with Argentina over the 2012 seizure of YPF at an annual meeting on Friday. The agreement had already been approved by the Argentine Congress and by the board of the Spanish company.

• Friday, March 28th 2014 - 19:45 UTC

  Why Ukraine's next president doesn't matter

  

  By James Stafford, Oilprice.com - Having ridden roughshod over Ukraine, Russia's annexation of the Crimea is now over and a new chapter in Ukrainian politics is about to begin—but it won't be much different than the last chapter, with the same old faces surfacing for May presidential elections.

• Friday, March 28th 2014 - 08:54 UTC

  Gibraltar top officials on a lobbying and trade promotion tour in Washington

  

  Gibraltar top elected officials this week went on a lobbying tour in the United States where they met government officials, visited Capitol Hill, talked trade and strongly defended the British Overseas Territory freedom, self determination and sovereignty.