International

• Wednesday, February 27th 2013 - 06:53 UTC

  Argentina/Iran accord could just make it in Wednesday’s vote in the Lower House

  

  The bilateral memorandum of understanding, MOU, between Argentina and Iran to investigate the 1994 AMIA bombing was cleared for debate by the Lower House committees on Tuesday and will be discussed on Wednesday at the floor. Foreign Minister Hector Timerman clashed with opposition lawmakers during his briefing over the case.

• Wednesday, February 27th 2013 - 05:44 UTC

  Fisheries minister says Japan will never stop hunting whales “it’s part of our culture”

  

  Japan's fisheries minister said Tuesday his country will never stop hunting whales, despite fierce criticism from other nations and violent clashes at sea with militant conservationists.

• Wednesday, February 27th 2013 - 05:30 UTC

  Colombian astronomers trace the origin of the meteor that crashed in Russia

  

  Astronomers from Colombia have traced the origin of a meteor that injured about 1,000 people after breaking up over central Russia earlier this month.Using amateur video footage, they were able to plot the meteor's trajectory through Earth's atmosphere and then reconstruct its orbit around the Sun.

• Wednesday, February 27th 2013 - 05:18 UTC

  OAS assembly in Guatemala will discuss “alternative strategies for combating drugs”

  

  In an advance of the coming 43rd OAS General Assembly to be held in Antigua, Guatemala next June the country’s Foreign Affairs minister Luis Fernando Carrera Castro presented before the OAS Permanent Council an issue that is gaining support in the continent, “Alternative Strategies for Combating Drugs”.

• Wednesday, February 27th 2013 - 04:55 UTC

  Major global effort involving Interpol launched to eliminate IUU fishing

  

  Interpol Environmental Crime Program, with support from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, this week announced the beginning of a massive global movement -- Project SCALE -- to cull illegal fishing and associated crimes.

• Wednesday, February 27th 2013 - 01:49 UTC

  Repsol sells package of LNG assets to Shell to cut its debt and hold to credit rating

  

  Spanish energy giant Repsol SA said Tuesday that it agreed to sell a package of liquefied natural gas assets to Royal Dutch Shell Plc in a transaction valued at 6.65 billion dollars. Shell will pay 4.4bn in cash and assume 2.25bn in debt, Repsol said in a regulatory filing.

• Wednesday, February 27th 2013 - 01:22 UTC

  Fish discard clash in Brussels; NE Atlantic has highest discard rate, says UN

  

  Europe's fisheries ministers may dilute plans for a total ban on the practice of discarding fish at sea, as they meet in Brussels. An outright discards ban was widely welcomed when backed by the European Parliament last month, but it is being resisted by France, Spain and others.

• Wednesday, February 27th 2013 - 01:14 UTC

  Italy fears knock world stock markets; US recovers on Bernanke’ defence of stimuli

  

  World stock markets and southern European government bonds sank on Tuesday on fears that political stalemate in Italy would leave its economic reforms in tatters and reignite the Euro zone's broader debt crisis.

• Tuesday, February 26th 2013 - 19:26 UTC

  Sea adventure of a lifetime: crew member of a schooner along the Brazilian coast and across to South Africa

  

  Want to run away to sea? Two incredible Dutch classic tall ships are seeking training crew for an around-the-world sailing voyage following historic trade routes on an epic adventure. Last minute Voyage Crew places are available on a historic journey to sail the old trade routes around the world and the three southern capes during March & April 2013.

• Tuesday, February 26th 2013 - 10:13 UTC

  Ecuador/Chevron dispute enters a new chapter: Correa calls for Latam support

  

  President Rafael Correa said he expects the regional groupings Alba and Unasur to meet urgently and address the “legal aberration” committed by a UN trade law arbitrage tribunal against Ecuador in a case involving US multinational Chevron and decades of environmental damages.