News of affairs

‘Totalitarian’: Argentina votes against UN ‘Pact for the Future’

23-09-2024 19:26 Milei administration officials voice rejection of non-binding UN masterplan to address 21st-century challenges; Only seven out of 193 states vote against, including Argentina, Russia, North Korea and Venezuela.

Milei and Judaism

Milei's rabbi reveals how Argentina's president fell in love with Judaism

06-03-2024 14:27 Milei's visit to the Western Wall was one of the first things he did when he arrived in the Holy Land, bringing the leader to tears, reveals

Human rights

UN rights chief warns Gaza 'powder keg' could spark wider war

04-03-2024 13:17 Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Volker Türk characterises the Gaza war as a "powder keg" and condemns "great replacement" theories

War in Middle East

Mediators seek Gaza truce as United States calls for 'immediate ceasefire'

04-03-2024 13:04 Mediators in Cairo push towards a Gaza truce after the US, Israel's top ally, stepped up pressure for a halt in fighting and more aid to enter the besieged Palestinian territory.

GEOPOLITICS & DIPLOMACY

Brazil urges 'new globalisation' at G20 meet overshadowed by Ukraine

29-02-2024 11:20 Brazil called for a "new globalisation" to address poverty and climate change as finance ministers from the world's top economies met Wednesday, but the Ukraine and Gaza wars risked overshadowing the plea.

GEOPOLITICS & DIPLOMACY

G20 finance ministers meet on world economy hit by crises, conflicts

28-02-2024 12:55 G20 finance ministers will meet Wednesday in Brazil, seeking ways to shore up a global economy whose nascent recovery is threatened by a raft of conflicts and crises, including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Extortion in Peru

Pay up, or else: Latin America cowed by lucrative extortion

26-02-2024 13:50 Extortion, a business more lucrative than drug trafficking thanks to its high profits, has become the bane of citizens' existence from Mexico through Central America to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Brazil and Wall Street

Lula pulls off rare trick twice, wooing Wall Street and the poor

26-02-2024 11:09 In his first year back in power, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has again managed to keep both low-income voters and Wall Street investors happy

FOCUS ON VENEZUELA

Venezuela calls in oil debt it once traded away for literal beans

26-02-2024 10:56 Impoverished and desperate for cash, Venezuela is trying to collect old debts from the Petrocaribe oil exchange programme.

STRATEGIC SHIFT

Mondino ratifies Malvinas sovereignty claim to UK's Cameron

21-02-2024 22:08 Argentina’s government had mostly stayed mum following British Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s trip to the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, but that changed Wednesday.

G20 Summit

Gaza, Ukraine loom large as G20 foreign ministers meet

21-02-2024 11:37 G20 foreign ministers begin meeting in Brazil on Wednesday, with bleak outlook as focus remains Gaza and Ukraine wars

Russian opposition leader

Navalny's widow vows to take up the fight for Russia's 'freedom'

20-02-2024 13:24 Yulia Navalnaya on Monday vowed to continue her husband Alexei Navalny's fight after his death in a Russian prison last week, for which she blamed the Kremlin.

Malvinas Sovereignty Dispute

Former British PM David Cameron visits Malvinas

19-02-2024 13:29 British Foreign Minister David Cameron landed at Mount Pleasant air base on Monday as part of a two-day visit to the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands.

Detained Plane Row

Maduro slams Milei after US seizes Venezuelan plane

16-02-2024 10:39 Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro slams Javier Milei, branding him a "bandit" who allowed the United States to seize an Emtrasur plane.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Venezuela suspends UN rights office, expels staff

15-02-2024 16:27 Two days after the United Nations agency expressed "deep concern" over the detention of a prominent rights activist, Venezuela's Foreign Minister ordered staff at the rights office to leave within 72 hours.

Global Affairs

French Foreign Minister to meet with Milei in Argentina

15-02-2024 16:06 French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné to meet with President Javier Milei in Argentina on February 19 and 20.

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Paraguay’s Peña advises president to look for ‘political consensus’

14-02-2024 17:10 Paraguayan head of state visits Argentina’s leader at the Casa Rosada for talks; Peña advises Milei it will be “difficult” to govern without political support.

War in Gaza

Pressure mounts on Israel for Gaza ceasefire

13-02-2024 11:33 Israel faced growing international pressure on Tuesday to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas, as it prepared for an incursion into the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah.

War in Gaza

Netanyahu orders Israeli army to ready plan to 'evacuate' Rafah

09-02-2024 12:36 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered military officials to draw up plans for "evacuating" Rafah, where half of Gaza's 2.4 million people are currently sheltering

Tucker Carlson Interview

Putin tells West: Russia cannot be defeated in Ukraine

09-02-2024 10:53 In a highly anticipated interview with controversial right-wing US talk show host Tucker Carlson, President Vladimir Putin speaks about Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Ukraine war, and Russia as a victim of Western betrayals.

Catholic Church

Argentines at odds: Milei and Pope Francis set to meet

09-02-2024 10:43 Javier Milei will meet Pope Francis for the first time on Sunday, amid seeing Israel as a "natural" ally, having different world views, and formerly calling the Pope an "imbecile" during his campaign.

Milei in Israel

Milei visits the home of nine-month-old baby taken hostage in Hamas attack

08-02-2024 15:08 President Javier Milei on Thursday visited the house of Kfir Bibas, the nine-month Israeli-Argentine baby who was kidnapped during terror attack by Hamas on kibbutz in southern Israel.

BRAZILIAN COURTS

Bolsonaro to surrender passport as Brazil probes 'coup'

08-02-2024 12:33 Probe into Bolsonaro supporters' invasion of the presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court in January 2023 continues.

Milei in Israel

President Milei likens Hamas attack on Israel to the Holocaust

08-02-2024 12:20 Argentina's President Javier Milei on Thursday likened Hamas' attacks on southern Israel to the Holocaust after touring a kibbutz targeted in the October 7 raids.

Milei in Israel

Milei meets with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

07-02-2024 15:16 Two leaders discuss trade opportunities, Milei’s plan to denounce Hamas as a terrorist organisation and potential move of Argentina's Israeli Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

DEATH OF FORMER PRESIDENT

Chile mourns Sebastián Piñera as remains flown to lie in state

07-02-2024 13:24 Three days of mourning and ceremonies got underway Wednesday for Chile's ex-president Sebastián Piñera, who died a day earlier in a helicopter crash; Funeral set for Friday.

Foreign Policy & Diplomacy

From Israel, Milei announces plan to move Argentina's Embassy to Jerusalem

06-02-2024 11:51 Upon his arrival in Israel, President Javier Milei immediately announced that he plans to move the embassy to Jerusalem; Hamas "strongly condemns" libertarian leader's announcement.

EU-Mercosur Deal

France: EU-Mercosur trade deal 'won't be signed as is'

31-01-2024 14:39 Protesting European farmers fear the deal would further depress produce prices amid increased competition from exporting nations that are not bound by strict and costly EU environmental laws.

Politics in Venezuela

Venezuela's opposition urges reinstatement of presidential hopeful

29-01-2024 16:45 Venezuela's political opposition demands nation's Supreme Court reinstate electoral eligibility of leader María Corina Machado, as anxiety swirled around this year's still unscheduled vote.

POPE & PRESIDENT

Pope Francis confirms that he will receive President Milei at the Vatican

29-01-2024 16:32 Pope Francis says he is “ready to start a dialogue” with President Javier Milei, reveals his organisation of his visit to Argentina is not yet underway.

Ecuador drug war

Ecuador nabs wanted narco-trafficker, president says crackdown bearing fruit

23-01-2024 15:37 Carlos Arturo Landazuri Cortes, nickname 'El Gringo,' was arrested on Monday; Accused is the alleged leader of a drug-dealing dissident group and suspected of involvement in the kidnapping and murder of three Ecuadorean journalists in 2018.

Global Affairs

Venezuela arrests 32 in alleged plot to kill Nicolás Maduro

23-01-2024 15:26 Authorities have accused civilians and soldiers of treason for their alleged part in the attempted assassination of President Nicolas Maduro.

Drug war crisis

Relatives of Ecuador drug boss 'Fito' arrested and deported from Argentina

19-01-2024 12:40 Security forces arrest and detain relatives of fugitive drug-boss Jose Adolfo Macías, alias 'Fito,' in Córdoba; Wife and children deported in early hours of Friday morning.

Tourism & travel

Global tourism to reach pre-pandemic levels in 2024, says UN agency

19-01-2024 12:03 International tourism is expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels in 2024, projects UN's World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Davos forum

Argentina's 'anarcho-capitalist' president descends on Davos

17-01-2024 09:58 President Javier Milei will address the global elite in Davos on Wednesday

World

Woman killed, 17 injured in Israel suspected ramming attack

15-01-2024 13:16 One woman killed and 17 others injured in suspected terrorist car-ramming attack in central Israel.

Global Affairs

Wars to cast pall over meeting of global VIPs in Davos

12-01-2024 10:48 President Javier Milei among the names attending next week's meeting of the world's financial, business and political elite in Davos; Wars in Ukraine and Gaza look set to dominate the conversation.

Narco-violence terrorises Ecuador

Ecuador’s ‘armed conflict’ against drug cartels explodes into violence

11-01-2024 16:50 Tanks and soldiers patrol the streets of Ecuador as third day of terror continues; Cartels have ‘declared war’ against President Daniel Noboa and the national government.

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Fernández: ‘I can talk to Xi, Putin and Biden equally, nobody can question me’

12-09-2023 13:16 Argentina’s president defines multilateralism as a nation’s right to diplomatically engage with whomever it pleases in speech at UN peace operations conference staged at Defence Ministry headquarters.

DIPLOMACY

Panamanian diplomat in Argentina sacked after his wife assaults concierge

25-07-2023 16:48 Assaulted woman reported being the victim of threats and physical aggression from the couple. Panamanian ambassador and his family set to return to home nation.

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Colombia president supports lifting Venezuela sanctions in Biden meeting

21-04-2023 18:56 US President Joe Biden said he is committed to resolving the crisis in Venezuela, after Colombia's President Gustavo Petro asked for sanction lift

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Brazil rejects US criticism, defends Russia ties

18-04-2023 12:08 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, hours after Washington criticized Brazilian president's recent remarks on US defence support for Ukraine.

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Brazil's Lula heads to China to boost ties

11-04-2023 14:23 Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva departed Tuesday for an official visit to China aimed at boosting the already deep ties between the Asian giant and Latin America's biggest economy.

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

Ukraine conflict on Lula's agenda in delayed China visit

10-04-2023 12:08 Brazil's leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will meet Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing this week to discuss trade and Ukraine mediation.