Politics

• Saturday, April 17th 2010 - 06:25 UTC

  Judge declares “null and non existent” first lesbian marriage in Argentina

  

  A Buenos Aires judge voided on Friday the marriage last week of two women, the first union of its kind in Argentina, judicial officials said.

• Saturday, April 17th 2010 - 06:23 UTC

  Egypt expects to sign free trade agreement with Mercosur next July

  

  Egypt expects to complete free trade negotiations with the four Mercosur countries -- Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay -- in July, Egypt's trade minister revealed this week in Cairo.

• Saturday, April 17th 2010 - 06:19 UTC

  Taxpayers will no longer be hostages of banks “too big to fall” promises Obama

  

  US President Barack Obama has proposed significant new curbs on the activities of banks to try to prevent future financial crises. The plans - the most far-reaching yet -include limits to the size of banks and restrictions on riskier trading.

• Saturday, April 17th 2010 - 03:26 UTC

  Mujica and Mrs. Kirchner prepare for the “day after” The Hague ruling

  

  Uruguayan president Jose Mujica and his Argentine peer Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will meet in Buenos Aires the day after the International Court of Justice rules on the pulp mill dispute which has soured bilateral relations between the neighbouring countries since 2006.

• Saturday, April 17th 2010 - 03:12 UTC

  Reconstruction efforts will turn Chile from capital exporter to importer, says IIF

  

  Increased external financing requirements to cover reconstruction costs triggered by the earthquake and tsunami of February 27 will shift Chile’s external position from capital exporter in 2009 (largely the result of its dynamic private pension system) to capital importer this year and next, according to the Institute of International Finance, IIF.

• Friday, April 16th 2010 - 09:38 UTC

  Outsider Clegg judged winner in first UK TV debate

  

  Nick Clegg, a rank outsider to become Britain's next prime minister, upstaged the two main candidates in an unprecedented televised debate on Thursday, according to snap polls of viewers.

• Friday, April 16th 2010 - 04:17 UTC

  Argentine bonds’ swap could not be sufficient, warn anks

  

  In spite of Argentine authorities optimism regarding the 20 billion USD bonds’ swap launched on Thursday the Institute of International Finance, (IIF), warned that the initiative could be insufficient to re-establish the country’s full access to voluntary money markets.

• Friday, April 16th 2010 - 03:41 UTC

  High-level corruption, not a few dissidents, is the main threat to communist Cuba

  

  Corruption at the highest levels of government - not the meddling of a small band of dissidents - is the greatest threat to Cuba's communist system, a leading academic said in a highly unusual opinion posted Thursday on a state Web site.

• Friday, April 16th 2010 - 01:46 UTC

  Argentine Judge annuls first gay union, but Congress set to vote same-sex marriage bill

  

  A judge in Argentina has annulled the first gay marriage in Latin America, state media said Thursday, but the two men in the groundbreaking union said they would appeal the decision.

• Thursday, April 15th 2010 - 19:35 UTC

  More changes anticipated in Ecuador’s cabinet and military commands

  

  Ecuador president Rafael Correa announced changes in the military command and further cabinet reshuffling as part of the restructuring of his administration’s team for the next three years.