Politics

• Tuesday, May 3rd 2011 - 22:52 UTC

  Portugal reaches agreement with EU and IMF for 116 billion dollars bail-out

  

  Portugal’s caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates announced Tuesday that he has reached agreement on a bail-out from the EU and the International Monetary Fund. He said the three-year loan was a “good agreement that defends Portugal”.

• Tuesday, May 3rd 2011 - 18:13 UTC

  Air France Flight 447 cockpit voice recorder recovered from the Atlantic

  

  The French aviation safety agency BEA announced on Tuesday the discovery and recovery of Air France Flight 447′s cockpit voice recorder from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, nearly two years after the Airbus A330-200 disappeared.

• Tuesday, May 3rd 2011 - 18:08 UTC

  Tax and investment protection agreements needed to boost India/Mercosur trade

  

  India emphasized the need to deepen trade and investment engagements with Latin America by expanding the existing PTA with Mercosur, during a business seminar in Montevideo, Uruguay. But he added that double tax and investment protections agreements are critical to expansion.

• Tuesday, May 3rd 2011 - 17:58 UTC

  Beware Mr Slim: Brazil’s Batista says he will become the world’s richest person

  

  Brazil’s billionaire Eike Batista said that he expects to become the world's richest person, speaking in an interview at the Milken Institute's annual global conference in California.

• Tuesday, May 3rd 2011 - 08:22 UTC

  Uruguay: overturning amnesty law could cost ruling coalition ‘dearly’

  

  Uruguayan Vice-president Danilo Astori acknowledged that overturning the “Expired Crimes” or amnesty bill for human rights violators during the military dictatorship (1973/1985) could cost the ruling coalition ‘dearly’ and said he voted following ‘party discipline’.

• Tuesday, May 3rd 2011 - 08:20 UTC

  Argentina supports bill requiring companies to distribute 10% of profits to workers

  

  A day before Tuesday’s round of talks between Argentina’s organized labour (CGT) and the Industrial Union (UIA) to consider the possibility of a ‘social pact’ to help contain prices (inflation), the government expressed support for a law sponsored by unions that requires companies to distribute 10% of profits to workers.

• Tuesday, May 3rd 2011 - 01:57 UTC

  Brazilian president rests in Brasilia recovering from mild case of pneumonia

  

  Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, 63, returned Monday to Brasilia after spending the weekend in a hospital in Sao Paulo suffering from strong flu and a mild case of pneumonia, according to the presidential office.

• Tuesday, May 3rd 2011 - 01:52 UTC

  Vatican says killing of Bin Laden calls for reflection before God and not rejoicing

  

  The Vatican said the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, a man who sowed division and hatred and who caused “innumerable” deaths, should prompt serious reflection about one's responsibility before God, not rejoicing.

• Tuesday, May 3rd 2011 - 00:41 UTC

  EU/Mercosur trade negotiations resume in Paraguay

  

  Bilateral negotiations for a trade agreement between Mercosur and European Union delegates are scheduled to resume Tuesday in Asunción, Paraguay.

• Tuesday, May 3rd 2011 - 00:32 UTC

  Farmers warn European Parliament of ‘catastrophic impact’ of trade accord with Mercosur

  

  European farmers insisted Monday before the European Parliament on the “catastrophic impact” that a trade agreement with Mercosur could have for the EU agriculture.