Mercosur

• Thursday, December 7th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Euro system basic rate increased 25 points to 3.5%

  The European Central Bank at Friday's Governing Council meeting in Frankfort decided to increase the minimum rate for the Eurosystem by 25 points to 3.5%.

• Thursday, December 7th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Large stretch of Amazon comes under protection

  A large stretch of Brazilian Amazon rain forest almost the size of Uruguay was placed under government protection this week, a region infamous for violent conflicts among loggers, ranchers and environmentalists.

• Thursday, December 7th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Evo Morales hosts his first regional summit

  Bolivia this weekend is hosting a summit of the South American Community of Nations (CSN), with President Evo Morales trying hard to present himself as a regional leader amid political trouble and a mass hunger strike at home.

• Thursday, December 7th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  EU ratifies support for Botnia pulp mill in Uruguay

  The European Union praised the World Bank decision to extend a 170 million US dollars loan for the completion of the Botnia-Orion pulp mill in Fray Bentos, Uruguay, and which has become the core of a dispute with neighboring Argentina.

• Thursday, December 7th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Lamy optimistic about trade accord for 2007

  World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy said in Paris that a global trade deal was possible in 2007 but it would need bigger efforts from the world's main players.

• Thursday, December 7th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Mercosur/EU talks depend on the Doha Round

  As long as the Doha Round is pending, “significant advances” in negotiations with Mercosur for a free trade agreement will not be forthcoming anticipated on Friday the European Union External Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson.

• Thursday, December 7th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Almirante Irizar sets off for Antarctic 2006/07 season

  Argentina's Defense Minister Nilda Garré symbolically gave departure orders for the Navy's icebreaker “Almirante Irizar” which next week sails south to begin the 2006/07 summer Antarctic season.

• Thursday, December 7th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Chavez promotes Mercosur “regional integration axis”

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez arrived Thursday in Buenos Aires for talks with his counterpart Nestor Kirchner and is scheduled to hold a two hours meeting in Montevideo on Friday with President Tabare Vazquez before leaving for Bolivia.

• Wednesday, December 6th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentina's official inflation in course to one digit target

  Argentina's Consumer Price Index increased 0.7% in November totaling 8.7% so far this year according to the latest release from the Statistics and Census Office in Buenos Aires.

• Wednesday, December 6th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  World household wealth concentrated in 2% richest

  The richest 2% of adults in the world own more than half of all household wealth, according to a new study by a United Nations research institute. The report, from the World Institute of Development Economics Research at the UN University, says that the poorer half of the world's population own barely 1% of global wealth.