International

• Monday, December 17th 2012 - 06:20 UTC

  China quarantines Argentine corn because of unapproved genetically modified strains

  

  Chinese authorities quarantined two containers holding corn from Argentina, after detecting genetically modified strains that had not been approved beforehand, alleged the Chinese buyer.

• Monday, December 17th 2012 - 05:53 UTC

  Blatter warns Brazil about security in football fields and the coming World Cup

  

  The abandonment of last Wednesday's South American Cup final following shocking accusations police had pulled guns on players should serve as a warning for Brazil's World Cup organizers, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said this weekend.

• Saturday, December 15th 2012 - 16:57 UTC

  Law of the Sea court orders ‘immediate’ release of ARA Libertad

  

  The UN International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ordered on Saturday the release of ARA Libertad, the Argentine naval training ship which has been detained in Ghana since October at the request of holders of defaulted Argentine state bonds.

• Saturday, December 15th 2012 - 06:15 UTC

  “Support linked to competitiveness” Merkel tells the EU members

  

  European leaders agreed on Friday to press on with further steps to tackle their debt crisis but German Chancellor Angela Merkel threw out a proposal to boost risk-sharing with a fund to help Euro zone states in trouble.

• Friday, December 14th 2012 - 07:36 UTC

  Banco do Brasil expects to open its first commercial branch in China early 2013

  

  Government owned and the largest in the country in assets, Banco do Brasil received this week approval from China’s regulator to open a commercial branch in the country which is Brazil’s main trading partner.

• Friday, December 14th 2012 - 07:16 UTC

  EU reaches landmark deal to make the ECB the top banking supervisor

  

  The European Union reached a landmark deal on Thursday to make the European Central Bank the bloc's top banking supervisor, giving EU leaders greater confidence that they are gaining the upper hand over the Euro zone's debt crisis.

• Friday, December 14th 2012 - 05:19 UTC

  EIU where-to-be-born index has Chile first in Latam and Argentina behind Brazil and Mexico

  

  The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist, has released today its 2013 where-to-be-born index, which measures which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead. Argentina is ranked in position 40, behind Chile, Brazil and Mexico, and far worse than when the first index published in 1988.

• Friday, December 14th 2012 - 04:45 UTC

  ‘Argentina’s behaviour’ main obstacle for EU/Mercosur trade talks says Brussels

  

  The European Union Trade Commissioner openly accused “Argentina’s behaviour” as the main obstacle in discussions to advance and reach a free trade agreement with Mercosur.

• Thursday, December 13th 2012 - 23:18 UTC

  International tourism reaches a billion and the industry celebrates

  

  One billion tourists have traveled the world in 2012, marking a new record for international tourism – a sector that accounts for one in every 12 jobs and 30% of the world’s services exports. On the symbolic arrival date of the one-billionth tourist, 13 December 2012, UNWTO revealed the actions tourists can take to ensure their trips benefit the people and places they visit, as voted by the public.

• Thursday, December 13th 2012 - 22:43 UTC

  Royal Navy shows the flag in Gibraltar waters; 197 Spanish unlawful incursions this year

  

  A Royal Navy warship used a routine logistical visit to Gibraltar on Wednesday to patrol British waters around the Rock. The highly unusual move came a day after an incursion by a Spanish Navy vessel and against the background of diplomatic tension between the UK and Spain over the waters row.