International

Thursday, September 26th 2019 - 09:45 UTC
Lagarde defends IMF decision to support Argentina with a record credit

Christine Lagarde has defended the IMF decision to give Argentina a record credit line last year, even after the US$56-billion program fell short of stabilizing the nation’s troubled economy.
Thursday, September 26th 2019 - 09:45 UTC
Trump dismisses the impeachment inquiry on Biden-Ukrainian contacts, as “a joke”

A downbeat Donald Trump on Wednesday dismissed as a “joke” the grounds laid out for the impeachment inquiry into him, as Democrats stood firm in accusing the US president of a “mafia-style shakedown” of his Ukrainian counterpart.
Thursday, September 26th 2019 - 09:05 UTC
Brazil scientists racing to finish a particle accelerator, fourth generation synchrotron Sirius

Brazilian scientists are racing against time to finish building a particle accelerator the size of the Maracana football stadium before government funds run out or it is superseded by rival technology.
Thursday, September 26th 2019 - 08:53 UTC
UN chief warns of 'unprecedented threat' from intolerance extremism and terrorism

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres warned on Wednesday that the world is facing “an unprecedented threat from intolerance, violent extremism and terrorism” that affects every country, exacerbating conflicts and destabilizing entire regions.
Thursday, September 26th 2019 - 08:13 UTC
PM Johnson defies the opposition to call a confidence vote on Thursday, and a “snap election”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday challenged opposition MPs to call a confidence vote in his government, in a defiant response to the Supreme Court decision to strike down his suspension of parliament.
Thursday, September 26th 2019 - 07:53 UTC
Johnson asks how come Thomas Cook directors paid themselves large sums when a business goes down the tube

After the collapse of Thomas Cook left hundreds of thousands of passengers reliant on the British state to repatriate them, Prime Minister Boris Johnson questioned whether bosses should have paid themselves so much ahead of its demise.
Thursday, September 26th 2019 - 07:42 UTC
Bulgaria's Georgieva is the new IMF Managing Director; second woman in the post, takes office October first

The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday formally selected Kristalina Georgieva of Bulgaria to be only the second woman ever to lead the 189-member institution. The selection had been all but guaranteed after the global crisis lender said earlier this month that Georgieva, a former World Bank CEO, was the sole candidate.
Wednesday, September 25th 2019 - 09:58 UTC
Multilateralism, Iran, Venezuela and Falklands in Macri's address to the UN General Assembly

Argentine President Mauricio Macri defended the trade agreement of Mercosur with the European Union, as part of his government's strategy to open Argentina to the world, demanded Iran cooperates with the judicial system to help clear the 1994 AMIA attack in Buenos Aires, condemned the Venezuelan dictatorship of president Nicolas Maduro and called on the United Kingdom for dialogue on the Falklands/Malvinas dispute, although reaffirming his country's “legitimate and imprescriptible sovereignty rights” over the South Atlantic Islands.
Wednesday, September 25th 2019 - 09:56 UTC
In support of Venezuela, Uruguay abandons the Rio Treaty

Uruguay will leave the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (TIAR, also known as Rio Pact) due to an “obvious attempt” by the other signatories to use it to threaten Venezuela with the use of force, Uruguayan Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa said at a press conference in Montevideo on Tuesday.
Wednesday, September 25th 2019 - 09:54 UTC
Macri holds a 'constructive meeting' with IMF, but no news about the pending tranche of a major loan

Argentine President Mauricio Macri met with his International Monetary Fund backers in New York on Tuesday, but there was little light shed on whether the body was likely to approve a key US$ 5.4 billion tranche of funds to the indebted country.