Politics

• Thursday, April 14th 2011 - 02:30 UTC

  Uruguay Senate annuls amnesty bill benefiting the military but triggers further controversy

  

  A closely divided Senate has passed legislation to overturn an amnesty for human rights crimes committed by the military and security forces during Uruguay's 1973-85 dictatorship, overruling voters who in two referendums upheld the law in 1989 and 2009. The decision triggered strong controversy in the Uruguayan political system.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 23:04 UTC

  EU, Colombia, Peru sign ambitious trade agreement; saves half a billion Euros in tariffs

  

  EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gutch together with Colombian Minister for Trade Sergio Diaz-Granados Guida and Peruvian Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade Carlos Posada Ugaz, celebrated Wednesday in Brussels the initialling of an ambitious trade agreement between the EU, Colombia and Peru.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 23:00 UTC

  Obama unveils his plan to cut the federal budget which includes tax increases

  

  President Barack Obama called for an overhaul of the U.S. tax code for individuals and businesses and said he wants to raise an additional 1 trillion US dollars through tax increases over the next decade.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 22:55 UTC

  Mercosur/EU will exchange proposals in the coming two months, says De Gutch

  

  The European Union and Mercosur currently holding a round of association and trade talks will be exchanging proposals for market access of their list of products in the coming two months, according to the EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 18:34 UTC

  Mercosur to release members’ same criteria macro-economic data beginning June

  

  Beginning June, Mercosur full members will share macro-economic indicators elaborated with the same criteria and which will be released simultaneously, according to reports in the Montevideo press. The initiative was partly financed by the European Union that also played an advisory role.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 17:10 UTC

  UK Europe Minister praises relation with Spain, but underlines no compromise on Gibraltar

  

  The Right Honourable David Lidington MP, the UK Minister of State for Europe, paid a short overnight familiarisation visit to Gibraltar, arriving Tuesday and leaving Wednesday lunchtime

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 05:37 UTC

  Tail section of Air France plane located on the Atlantic bed 4 km down

  

  The tail section of an Air France plane which crashed over the Atlantic in 2009 has been found on the ocean floor, relatives of those killed have said. Investigators had told them the section was “relatively intact”, they added.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 05:31 UTC

  Re-elected governor gives full support to CFK re-election; criticizes Moyano

  

  A recently re-elected Argentine provincial governor gave his full support for the re-election of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, CFK, and asked for “more limits” to be imposed on Hugo Moyano, Argentina’s organized labour chief who attacked the incumbent candidate during the campaign.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 05:28 UTC

  Cristina suffers hypotension and suspends all official activities for 24 hours

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was forced to suspend all of her official activities for the next 24 hours after suffering from low blood pressure in the Olivos presidential residence. She is expected to remain there under observation until Wednesday.

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 05:06 UTC

  Arms sales down in Chile but the wealthy guard their homes with guns

  

  The number of gun owners has decreased over the past year in Chile from 5.3% to 4.9%. Yet one economic sector—the wealthiest Chileans from the socioeconomic level ABC1—continue to buy firearms at an escalating rate.