Mercosur

• Monday, September 20th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Floods Kill More Than 500 in Haiti.

  The death toll from the disastrous passage of Tropical Storm Jeanne over Haiti topped 500 on Monday, with the northern city of Gonaives cut off.

• Monday, September 20th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  U.N. Summit: Fight to end hunger merits top priority.

  The fight to eradicate hunger and poverty is a moral obligation that merits top priority, the leaders of Spain, France, Brazil and Chile said here Monday at a summit they convened in the hopes of spurring coordinated efforts to combat malnutrition and indigence worldwide.

• Sunday, September 19th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Brazil President to Lead Poverty Crusade.

  A grade school dropout and ex-factory worker, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva vividly recalls his struggle to survive in Brazil's backwoods and urban squalor. Now, Silva hopes to lead a global crusade to help the worlds needy.

• Sunday, September 19th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentine central bank chiefs to go.

  Argentina's centre-left government is to replace Alfonso Prat-Gay, central bank president, as part of a wide-ranging shake-up of the country's highest monetary authority.

• Saturday, September 18th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Kirchner to attend General Assembly of the United Nations.

  Kirchner is leaving today to New York city where he is scheduled to speak before the United Nations Assembly and the Council of the Americas.

• Saturday, September 18th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF lets Argentina defer $1.1 billion in debt.

  The International Monetary Fund on Friday granted an Argentine government request to defer $1.1 billion in debt repayments that Buenos Aires was scheduled to make between now and January.

• Saturday, September 18th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Mexico and Japan sign free-trade accord.

  Mexico and Japan capped two years of intense negotiations Friday by concluding a broad economic pact that eliminates trade barriers and aims to boost bilateral investment activity.

• Friday, September 17th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Latin-American integration has to be a priority.

  The presidents from Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, appealed to make Latin-American integration a priority, according to a joint statement made after the meeting held on Wednesday in Manaus and disclosed yesterday in Brasilia.

• Friday, September 17th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Batlle to attend General Assembly of the United Nations.

  President Jorge Batlle will travel to the United States between Sunday 19 and Thursday 23 to meet with world leaders on the issues of hunger and poverty and to attend the 59 Session Period of the General Assembly of the United Nations, as informed today by the Presidency of the Republic of Uruguay.

• Friday, September 17th 2004 - 21:00 UTC

  Vaclav Havel, favourite candidate, Bush in the last place.

  Former Check President Vaclav Havel has a lot of chances of getting the Nobel Peace Prize while the President of the United States, George W. Bush, ranks last in the list, said several forecast experts only three weeks away from the final verdict.