Politics

• Friday, June 14th 2013 - 08:16 UTC

  Food commodity markets more balanced in 2013/14, says FAO Outlook

  

  Food commodity markets, in particular for cereals, are set to be more balanced in 2013/14, according to FAO Food Outlook report published on Thursday. World food imports in 2013 are tentatively forecast at 1.09 trillion dollars, close to last year's level, but 13% below the record of 2011, the biannual report on global food markets said.

• Friday, June 14th 2013 - 03:42 UTC

  Thinking in October, Cristina Fernandez demands from banks a new round of low cost business loans

  

  Argentina will demand that banks grant a new round of low-cost business loans from July through December, totalling about 3.8 billion dollars, the central bank said on Thursday. The decision comes four months ahead of mid-term elections next October.

• Friday, June 14th 2013 - 03:32 UTC

  Menem will appeal sentence to seven years in prison for smuggling weapons

  

  An Argentine court sentenced former President Carlos Menem to seven years in prison for smuggling weapons to Croatia during the Yugoslav civil war of the 1990s, and to Ecuador. Last year Menem was acquitted along with 17 other defendants, but the Cassation Court convicted 12 of them and urged the judges to change the verdicts.

• Friday, June 14th 2013 - 03:29 UTC

  Argentina train crash kills 3, injures 315 and sparks controversy over the rail system

  

  At least three people were killed and 315 others injured when two trains collided Thursday morning outside Argentina's capital, officials said. The causes of the accident are yet to be determined and have already triggered controversy giving the poor conditions of the Argentine railway system.

• Friday, June 14th 2013 - 00:16 UTC

  Falklands have never been part of Argentina and Islanders overwhelmingly voted to remain British

  

  The following piece was written by Andrew Ayre, British High Commissioner in Georgetown, Guyana and published in StabroekNews from Guyana.

• Friday, June 14th 2013 - 00:12 UTC

  Chile and UK hold annual round of defense talks in London

  

  Chile and the UK held a round of defense talks in London at the end of May as part of the defense and security agreements between the two countries. The talks took place at the Ministry of Defense and were hosted by the UK Minister for International Security Strategy, Dr. Andrew Murrison.

• Thursday, June 13th 2013 - 23:49 UTC

  Paraguay and Mexico advancing towards an economic complementation accord

  

  Technical groups from Paraguay and Mexico advanced on Wednesday talks for the creation of an Economic complementation Accord in the framework of the Latam Integration Association, ALADI, which is considered the “step previous to a full free trade treaty”, reported from Asuncion Paraguay’s foreign ministry.

• Thursday, June 13th 2013 - 22:22 UTC

  Peruvian president Humala wants the US as observer of the Pacific Alliance

  

  Peruvian president Ollanta Humala said he favoured the incorporation of the United States as observer to the Alliance of the Pacific, a free trade, pro-business and open market group made up of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

• Thursday, June 13th 2013 - 21:56 UTC

  Mercosur July 12 summit in Montevideo will confirm return of suspended Paraguay

  

  The next Mercosur summit scheduled for the end of June in Montevideo has been delayed until 12 July, announced Uruguayan Foreign minister Luis Almagro. The new date was agreed by Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela earlier this week.

• Thursday, June 13th 2013 - 17:35 UTC

  Falklands: British nation pays tribute to Sir Rex Hunt’s courage and leadership

  

  The British Government has paid tribute to Sir Rex Hunt for his courage and leadership as Governor of the Falkland Islands during Argentina’s 1982 invasion and for his part in the modern, prosperous Falklands of today.