Politics

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 15:31 UTC

  EU and Mercosur resume ‘formal’ trade negotiations next week

  

  European Union and Mercosur delegates are scheduled to meet next week in Brussels for another round of negotiations with the purpose of reaching a trade agreement.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 06:39 UTC

  Philip Morris launches legal action against Australia; similar to Uruguayan case

  

  Tobacco giant Philip Morris International launched legal action this week against the Australian government over the country's plans to strip company logos from cigarette packages and replace them with grisly images of cancerous mouths, sickly children and bulging, blinded eyes.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 06:20 UTC

  EU paymasters reject point blank proposal for a 5% budget hike

  

  The European Commission’s request for a 5% hike in member states’ contributions in the next EU budget met immediate resistance from big countries such as Germany, France and Britain yesterday.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 03:26 UTC

  Chávez from Cuba tells Venezuela he is undergoing cancer treatment

  

  Doctors detected and removed a cancerous tumor from Hugo Chavez's body, the Venezuelan president announced in a speech broadcast on state-run VTV Thursday night.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 02:03 UTC

  Brazilian judge approves first gay marriage in the country

  

  A Brazilian judge approved what is considered to be the country’s first gay marriage. Sao Paulo state Judge Fernando Henrique Pinto ruled on Wednesday two men could convert their civil union into a full marriage.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 01:48 UTC

  Brazil and Japan allege over 100 countries support UN Security Council reform

  

  Foreign Affairs ministers from Brazil and Japan announced that over 100 nations have expressed support for a proposal to expand the United Nations Security Council.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 01:45 UTC

  Argentina votes compensation for victims of attack on Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires

  

  Relatives of victims of the 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires will receive compensation from Argentina.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 20:10 UTC

  Relief in financial markets: Greece approves austerity and privatization package

  

  The Greek parliament approved on Thursday detailed austerity and privatization bills in a crucial vote to secure emergency funds and avert imminent bankruptcy, but longer-term dangers still lurk.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 20:06 UTC

  Pickets take to the streets of Britain to protest pension reforms

  

  Teachers and civil servants marched through the streets and picketed government buildings across Britain today in protest at planned pension reforms, launching what could be a long period of labour unrest over austerity measures.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 16:47 UTC

  Mercosur plans coordinate tariffs mechanism to contain “unexpected surge of imports”

  

  Brazil’s proposal to Mercosur members of a coordinated tariffs’ package with the purpose of containing unexpected imports surges, particularly of cheap products, from Europe, Asia and the United States is to be implemented in the second half of the year.