Politics

• Friday, October 31st 2014 - 21:21 UTC

  Argentina's holdout dispute spills into the White House: CFK sends letter to Obama questioning Ambassador Soderberg

  

  In a harsh letter, released on Friday, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez urged US President Barack Obama to explain whether ”Nancy Soderberg, the person you have appointed as Chair of the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB), which reports directly to the Government of the United States of America, is also the Co-Chair of the American Task Force Argentina (ATFA), an entity specifically created to attack and slander the Argentine Republic and its President.”

• Friday, October 31st 2014 - 08:27 UTC

  Pacific Alliance and Mercosur begin round of ministerial informative meetings

  

  The Pacific Alliance and Mercosur will be holding a two-day ministerial informative meeting in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, beginning this Friday, a first approach to a possible convergence of the two groupings, according to official releases.

• Friday, October 31st 2014 - 08:15 UTC

  Uruguayan challenger promises to abolish tax on pensions and lift the income tax floor

  

  Uruguay's opposition candidate Luis Lacalle Pou admitted on Thursday that defeating incumbent Tabare Vazquez in the 30 November runoff is 'difficult' but not impossible. In last Sunday's first round the incumbent candidate garnered 47.9% of the vote and Lacalle Pou, 30.9%.

• Friday, October 31st 2014 - 08:08 UTC

  Chinese relief for Argentina: central banks activate currency-swap

  

  The central banks of Argentina and China on Thursday activated a bilateral currency-swap agreement, which meant that the Argentine central bank received an initial tranche of Yuan equivalent to 814 million dollars.

• Friday, October 31st 2014 - 07:51 UTC

  Argentina approves new hydrocarbons bill to attract foreign investments

  

  Argentina's lower house of Congress, which is controlled by President Cristina Fernandez's allies, gave final approval Thursday for a new Hydrocarbons Law that was harshly criticized by opposition lawmakers. The lower house passed the bill with a vote of 130-116 with one abstention after more than 14 hours of debate.

• Friday, October 31st 2014 - 07:13 UTC

  Google victory in Argentina: search engines are not responsible for content they index

  

  In what is considered a leading case for Argentina, the country's Supreme Court said search engines are not responsible for any content they index, handing a victory to Google in what had become one of the most technologically complicated issues to reach Argentina’s highest court in recent memory.

• Friday, October 31st 2014 - 07:04 UTC

  Falklands demining contracts goes to Bactec and Fenix Insight

  

  Two companies have been awarded contracts by the UK Foreign Office for the clearance of minefields in the Falkland Islands, dating back to the 1982 conflict when retreating Argentine forces laid antipersonnel and other explosives particularly in a ring surrounding the capital Stanley.

• Thursday, October 30th 2014 - 21:49 UTC

  Fifty one countries sign 'milestone' accord against tax evasion

  

  Fifty one nations on Wednesday signed what was hailed as a milestone in the fight against tax evasion, an agreement that commits them all to automatic exchange of tax information starting in 2017. The accord capped a two-day meeting of officials from most of the 123 nations that have joined the Global Forum, which evolved from an agreement by Germany and Britain two years ago to crack down on tax evasion and tax fraud.

• Thursday, October 30th 2014 - 21:36 UTC

  Argentina tells bondholders to take legal action against Judge Griesa who is 'withholding funds'

  

  Argentine Cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich called bondholders to “take legal action against (US Judge Thomas) Griesa instead of demanding the acceleration of (Argentine) bonds,” following rumors that Owl Creek Asset Management LP is discussing the formation of a group to demand immediate repayment on bonds.

• Thursday, October 30th 2014 - 21:25 UTC

  Sweden becomes first EU country to recognize the State of Palestine

  

  Sweden has recognized the State of Palestine, the country’s foreign minister has announced, making it the first European Union country to do so. The 130 other nations that already recognize a Palestinian State include Hungary, Slovakia and Poland although these three countries took this step before joining the EU.