International

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 19:31 UTC

  Spanish dictator atrocities case presented before Argentine federal court

  

  Argentine human rights groups turned the tables on Spain Wednesday, asking for a local judicial probe of killings and disappearances as well as suspected genocide during the Spanish Civil War and Gen. Francisco Franco's long dictatorship.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 17:28 UTC

  Lower sunspot activity anticipates chillier winters for northern Europe

  

  Periods of low sunspot activity are associated with changes in the winds that tear though the upper atmosphere bringing unusually cold winters to northern Europe, according to the new study Environmental Research Letters

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 17:19 UTC

  Fears of inflation and asset bubbles as China expands 11.9% in first quarter

  

  China's economy expanded 11.9% year on year in the first quarter, indicating a solid recovery of the world's third largest economy, but also fanning concerns of asset bubbles, reports Xinhua.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 17:07 UTC

  Spain’s high unemployment a threat for financial system, warns top banker

  

  Spain’s high unemployment is the biggest threat facing the country’s banks, the governor of the Spanish central bank said this week. With the jobless rate approaching 19%, Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordoñez said Spanish politicians need to approve labour reform “soon and with the broadest possible consensus”.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 05:53 UTC

  Argentina to resume nuclear program in cooperation with Russia

  

  Russian President Dimitri Medvedev met with President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to commemorate 125 years of bilateral relations between Argentina and Russia and to sign several cooperation agreements in different fields including helping Argentina to develop its nuclear program.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 05:50 UTC

  China’s Sinopec expected to invest in Brazilian offshore oil blocks

  

  China's Sinopec will buy stakes in two Brazilian offshore blocks from state-run Petrobras, local media reported Wednesday, as part of a cooperation agreement to be signed during a visit by China's president to Brazil.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 05:39 UTC

  BRIC leaders arrive in Brazil for two-day summit in anticipation of G20

  

  Leaders from the world's four biggest emerging economies --Brazil, Russia, India and China, arrived in Brasilia Wednesday for a two-day summit. It's the second summit of the so-called BRIC countries.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 00:36 UTC

  China rapidly becoming Latinamerica’s main trade and investment partner

  

  China is set to become Latinamerica’s second trade partner ahead of the European Union and just behind the United States in the next few years according to a report from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latinamerica and the Caribbean, Cepal.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 00:04 UTC

  FMD emergency in Korea: 26.000 animals at 211 farms culled

  

  Shortly after declaring itself “clear” of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) on March 23, South Korea is yet again battling the animal disease that was found to have contaminated a local cattle farm last Friday.

• Wednesday, April 14th 2010 - 22:53 UTC

  Mrs. Kirchner personally apologizes to Hu Jintao for cancelled visit to China

  

  Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner apologized to her peer, China’s Hu Jintao for having cancelled in January at last moment a long time planned official visit to Beijing. Mrs. Kirchner and President Hu Jintao met in the sidelines of this week’s nuclear security summit in Washington.