Politics

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 08:54 UTC

  Francis inaugurates papacy with little pomp and much contact with the faithful

  

  Pope Francis on Tuesday inaugurated his papacy with a Mass in front of hundreds of thousands of people, foreign leaders and the Orthodox Christians Patriarch (first time since the great schism of 1054) in St. Peter's Square with a simplified rite that fuelled hopes for change in the scandal-plagued Roman Catholic Church.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 08:50 UTC

  Francis calls on world leaders ‘to be protectors of one another and of the environment’

  

  Under bright sunshine in St. Peter's Square, the Argentine pope insisted with his constant message since he was elected by a secret conclave of cardinals last week: that the Church's mission was to defend the poor and disadvantaged. Francis also called on leaders to protect the people and respect the environment.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 08:40 UTC

  Before his coronation mass Francis talked to the Catholics gathered in Plaza de Mayo

  

  As thousands of Argentine Catholics were congregated at Plaza de Mayo in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral, where huge screens and Vatican and Argentine flags were set up for people to joyfully celebrate the beginning of Francis’ papacy, the Pontiff surprised the masses with an unexpected phone call.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 08:35 UTC

  Francis first beatification could be a Franciscan friar killed by Argentine military

  

  A Franciscan friar tortured and killed by Argentina’s last civil-military dictatorship, could become the first religious leader to be beatified by Pope Francis according to a piece in the Italian newspaper La Stampa.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 08:29 UTC

  Suspended potash project top officials left Argentina following union threats

  

  Top officials from the Brazilian mining company Vale which suspended a 6 billion dollars potash development project in Argentina left the country for Sao Paulo last Friday following “on instructions from the security department” of the corporation, according to reports in the Brazilian press.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 08:13 UTC

  For Argentina’s tax-revenue office Afip, Malvinas are a foreign territory, most probably British

  

  Despite persistent claims before the world, and his Holiness, that the Malvinas Islands are Argentine, for the tax office in Buenos Aires in practical terms they really are a foreign country, according to the latest resolution which applies an additional fee of 20% to tickets and overseas expenditure with Argentine debit or credit cards.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 08:08 UTC

  Chinese leadership pledges new relationship with US and demands respect for ‘core interests’

  

  Chinese President Xi Jinping told US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew in Beijing on Tuesday that he wants to build a new type of relationship with Washington centred on core interests.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 08:00 UTC

  Germany warns Cyprus ‘banks might never reopen’ if terms of bailout are rejected

  

  Germany's finance minister has warned Cyprus that its crisis-stricken banks may never be able to reopen if it rejects the terms of a bailout. Wolfgang Schaeuble said major Cypriot banks were “insolvent if there are no emergency funds”.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 07:54 UTC

  UK reopens embassy in Paraguay in July and names Latam expert ambassador

  

  The UK has appointed ambassador to Paraguay as part of the current government’s plan to recover lost ground in Latinamerica. The British embassy in Asunción was closed in 2005 and has since had a non resident ambassador based in Buenos Aires.

• Wednesday, March 20th 2013 - 07:46 UTC

  Venezuelan presidential candidate Capriles pledges “not another drop of oil to Cuba”

  

  Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate on Monday vowed to end the OPEC nation's shipments of subsidized oil to the Castro brothers regime in Cuba, slamming acting President as a puppet of Havana.