Politics

• Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 06:53 UTC

  Uruguay says Brazil and Paraguay are ready to sign trade accord with Europe

  

  Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez said that Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay are ready to sign the long delayed trade and cooperation agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. Such an agreement has become one of the cornerstones of Vazquez presidency faced with falling exports and limited markets.

• Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 06:44 UTC

  “Football is a game, but is also a massive business” and people want it to operate with integrity

  

  President Barack Obama weighed in on the deepening corruption scandal involving world soccer's governing body, saying it was essential that the sport's integrity be ensured.

• Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 06:39 UTC

  Argentine businessman indicted by US in FIFA corruption case, turns in Italy

  

  Of the 14 people indicted by the United States in the FIFA corruption case, five members are businessmen that worked for various sports marketing and consulting companies that dealt extensively with the world's football organization.

• Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 06:28 UTC

  FIFA admits 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts could change because of the ongoing investigation

  

  Head of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee says World Cup hosts could change as a result of ongoing investigation. Domenico Scala says if any evidence of wrongdoing is found by the ongoing criminal investigations into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the rights to host the tournament could be stripped.

• Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 06:04 UTC

  Brazil launches ambitious $64bn infrastructure package to prop the economy

  

  Brazil announced a $64 billion infrastructure spending package on Tuesday, hoping to revive its flagging economy with investment in highways, railroads, ports and airports. Businesses and analysts have long pointed to overburdened infrastructure as a drag on the world's seventh-largest economy, which pays high prices to ship the raw materials it exports.

• Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 05:32 UTC

  Argentina commemorates creation of 'Malvinas political and military command' in June 1829

  

  British dominance of the Malvinas Islands is a colonial 'situation', which is 'unacceptable' and 'anachronic': Argentina reiterates its sovereignty claims over the South Atlantic Islands and surrounding maritime spaces, said a release from the foreign ministry in Buenos Aires on occasion of the day the country commemorates the creation, on 10 June 1829, of the political and military command of the Malvinas Islands and adjacent Cape Horn spaces.

• Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 05:01 UTC

  Argentina comes to a halt as transport unions shut-down buses, trains, subways, air traffic

  

  A strike by Argentine transport workers caused chaos for Buenos Aires commuters and forced airlines to cancel flights on Tuesday as the government accused unions of playing pre-election politics.

• Tuesday, June 9th 2015 - 08:20 UTC

  Brazil determined to advance Mercosur/EU trade talks in this week's meeting

  

  A top Brazilian minister said that Mercosur must allow member countries to sign trade agreements with third parties and called for the end to the rule which prevents such initiative. Development, Industry and Trade minister Armando Monteiro Neto made the statement during a competitiveness seminar in Rio do Janeiro a couple of days ahead of a crucial meeting in Brussels between Mercosur representatives and the European Union to address an encompassing free trade agreement.

• Tuesday, June 9th 2015 - 08:06 UTC

  Paraguay believes in a 'single speed' approach to Mercosur/EU trade talks

  

  Paraguay believes in a 'single speed' approach to negotiations for a trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, but discussions must be more dynamic and wide ranging, said the country's president Horacio Cartes, currently visiting Spain.

• Tuesday, June 9th 2015 - 07:49 UTC

  Argentina is paradise: poverty below 5% rate Cristina Fernandez tells the world

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernández sparked controversy on Sunday when in a speech before the FAO conference in Rome, she endorsed widely disputed government figures on poverty, saying the rate was “below five percent,” adding that destitution in the country stood at 1.27%. If this was correct Argentina's poverty rate is below that of OECD rich league members.