Mercosur

• Sunday, December 19th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Scant progress on ?Post-Kyoto'.

  The EU came to Buenos Aires wanting to narrow differences with the US ? the main source of heat-trapping gases ? and the large developing economies excluded from Kyoto like China and India.

• Saturday, December 18th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Almirante Irizar leaves for Antarctica.

  Next Monday December 20 the Argentine Navy icebreaker “Almirante Irizar” will be leaving from Buenos Aires for Ushuaia and Antarctica officially beginning the four months 2004/05 season.

• Saturday, December 18th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Santiago - Punta Arenas with Boeing 767/300

  Lan Chile began a daily flight between Santiago and Punta Arenas with a wide body Boeing 767-300, one of the most modern aircrafts and with the largest passenger and freight capacity in the southern Chile route

• Saturday, December 18th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Stroke Hospitalizes Ex-Dictator Pinochet

  Gen. Augusto Pinochet was hospitalized after suffering a stroke Saturday; one day after an appeals court delayed a decision on whether to uphold the former dictator's indictment and house arrest on human rights charges.

• Friday, December 17th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Mercosur declares expansion despite problems among founders.

  The southern South American trade bloc established 10 years ago with an eye to spurring regional development and clout declared here a hefty expansion despite lingering problems between founding members that have made economic union more of a goal than a reality.

• Friday, December 17th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Russia & Argentina to co-operate in Security Council.

  Russia and Argentina have agreed to co-operate within the framework of the United Nations Security Council, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov, the Russian news and information agency Novosti reported yesterday.

• Friday, December 17th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Menem: Xmas in “La Rioja”.

  A judge struck down an arrest warrant for ex-president Carlos Menem yesterday, clearing a legal hurdle for the former leader who has been living in neighbouring Chile, while his nephew said that Menem will come back to Argentina on December 22.

• Friday, December 17th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Plant find points to global climate peril.

  The discovery of a bed of plants that lay frozen under a Peruvian glacier for thousands of years points to dire consequences from climate change today, according to Lonnie Thompson, a glaciologist.

• Thursday, December 16th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Record US trade deficit in October

  The United States trade deficit last October increased almost 9% reaching a record 55,5 billion US dollars totalling 500, 5 billion US dollars during the first ten months of 2004, reports the US Department of Commerce.

• Thursday, December 16th 2004 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil leads world meat exports

  Brazil's meat exports this year should reach 5,8 billion US dollars, 42% above 2003, equivalent to 4,2 million tons, 23% over last year, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Agriculture.