Politics

• Tuesday, April 24th 2012 - 01:09 UTC

  Setback for Spain: EU confirms trade talks with Mercosur, including Argentina

  

  A member of the European Union assured it is not possible to negotiate an agreement between the EU and Mercosur without Argentina, as the Spanish Government planned after the country’s decision to expropriate YPF.

• Tuesday, April 24th 2012 - 00:58 UTC

  Chavez blasts “psychological rumours warfare” and says on Thursday he returns to Venezuela

  

  A healthy-sounding President Hugo Chávez called Venezuelan state television from Cuba on Monday to dispel rumours fanned by a nine-day silence that he had died undergoing cancer treatment at a hospital in Havana.

• Tuesday, April 24th 2012 - 00:48 UTC

  Extreme right-wing National Front kingmaker of next French president

  

  French President Nicolas Sarkozy appealed directly to far right voters on Monday with pledges to get tough on immigration and security, after a record showing in a first round election by the National Front made them potential kingmakers.

• Monday, April 23rd 2012 - 09:40 UTC

  IMF governing panel calls for more action from Euro zone to prevent recession

  

  Europe was pressed by other world powers to take strong measures to fix its debt-heavy economy and restore growth to a level that would lift the cloud hanging over the fragile global recovery.

• Monday, April 23rd 2012 - 09:34 UTC

  Parlatino supports Argentine decision, blasts EU for threatening with reprisals

  

  The Standing Committee from the Latin American parliament, Parlatino, approved a resolution in support of the Argentine government decision to seize a majority stake in YPF from Spain’s Repsol, according to a release made public over the weekend.

• Monday, April 23rd 2012 - 09:33 UTC

  YPF seizure approved by 62% of Argentines, according to opinion poll

  

  The recent decision by President Cristina Fernandez to seize a majority stake in YPF from Spain’s Repsol has the approval of 62% of Argentines, while 23% disagree according to a public opinion poll from Poliarquía published in the Sunday edition of La Nacion.

• Monday, April 23rd 2012 - 09:28 UTC

  Washington Post suggests replacing Argentina with Chile at the G20

  

  As has happened with other leading world opinion makers such as the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, that have condemned the seizure by the administration of President Cristina Fernandez of a majority share in the Spanish Repsol owned YPF, The Washington Post has also been extremely critical of the Argentine leader.

• Monday, April 23rd 2012 - 09:21 UTC

  Brazil helped Soviet support operation for Argentina during the Falklands conflict

  

  Brazil collaborated during the 1982 Falkland Islands conflict in an operation mounted by the Soviets to supply Argentina with spares, arms, munitions and other requirements according to the Rio do Janeiro newspaper O’Globo based on disclosed documents from the National Security Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

• Monday, April 23rd 2012 - 09:16 UTC

  Hollande wins first round in France and leads comfortably for the run-off

  

  French President Nicolas Sarkozy faces an uphill struggle in the second round of the presidential election, after coming second in Sunday's first vote. He won only 27.1% of the vote, while his socialist rival Francois Hollande took 28.6%, the first time a sitting president has lost in first round. Third-place Marine Le Pen took the largest share of the vote her far-right National Front has ever won with 18.1%.

• Sunday, April 22nd 2012 - 23:17 UTC

  Record approval for Dilma, but Brazilian voters’ heart is with Lula da Silva

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's administration reached a record-high approval rating in April but voters still long for the return of predecessor Lula da Silva, a newspaper reported.