Mercosur

• Tuesday, January 11th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Govt. ratifies gas exports thru end-2005, but price uncertain.

  Bolivian authorities have agreed to extend natural gas exports to Argentina until December this year, but left the price negotiation up to Bolivia's state oil company YPFB and private gas producers, newspapers reported.

• Tuesday, January 11th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Flag tramplers free on bail and without passports.

  A Briton, an Australian and a South African arrested and jailed for trampling and trashing an Argentine flag in a Ushuaia pub were released on bail but they had to hand in their passports and will have to remain in the city until February when the Judiciary resumes activities.

• Tuesday, January 11th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  French scientist warns of potential fault areas

  The Mediterranean, Caribbean and the South Atlantic have geological systems “almost identical” to the Sumatra fault line which caused the seaquake of last December 26, according to a French scientist interviewed by the “Le Parisien-Dimanche”.

• Tuesday, January 11th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Tory alternative to EU fishing policy

  Shadow fisheries spokes-man Owen Paterson said the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) should be scrapped as it had wrecked the marine environment, fishing communities and the industry.

• Monday, January 10th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil is China's main regional trade partner

  Bilateral trade between China and Brazil totalled 11.3 billion US dollars during the first eleven months of 2004, which represents a 56.2% increase over the same period in 2003, according to the latest figures from Chinese Customs.

• Sunday, January 9th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Canada searching for cattle with BSE

  Canada is “actively” trying to check 141 milk and beef cattle that are potentially contaminated with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, BSE, commonly known as “mad cow” disease.

• Sunday, January 9th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Zoellick from Trade to Deputy Secretary of State

  US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick considered a supporter of strong and close transatlantic relations has been nominated by President George Bush as the number 2 person in the Department of State behind Condoleeza Rice.

• Sunday, January 9th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Lan Chile buys planes and targets Asia

  Lan Chile will be incorporating seven new aircrafts in 2005 partly to renew its fleet and partly to address the growing business expansion.

• Sunday, January 9th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  US supports Central American candidate for OAS

  United States reiterated that it prefers a former president from Central America as the next of Secretary General of the Organization of American States, a post for which Chile and Mexico have also presented candidates.

• Saturday, January 8th 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Detained in Ushuaia for trashing Argentine flag

  Three foreigners remain detained and incommunicated in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego after having torn and trashed an Argentine flag from a local downtown pub, which happened to belong to a Malvinas war veteran.