Israel says 'no' to Middle East peace conference in Paris
Israel on Monday formally rejected France's invitation to take part in a Middle East peace conference in Paris later this year, saying it was a distraction from the goal of direct negotiations with the Palestinians. There was no immediate comment from Vimont but the French foreign ministry said it still planned to hold the conference before the end of the year. The Palestinians have said they will attend the Paris conference if it goes ahead. Israel, which regards the United States as the chief broker in the Middle East, has long maintained that only direct negotiations with the Palestinians can lead to peace and sees France's efforts as a diversion. Israel says an international conference will also give Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a platform on which to grandstand, rather than engaging directly with the Israelis.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
November 07, 2016 16:30 UTC
Janet Reno, first US woman attorney general, dies aged 78
Janet Reno, the first woman US attorney general who served eight tumultuous years with President Bill Clinton, has died aged 78. Reno's goddaughter, Gabrielle D'Alemberte, said she succumbed to complications of Parkinson's disease early on Monday in Miami. The blunt-spoken lawyer worked as the top US law enforcement official under Clinton from 1993 to 2001, becoming the longest-serving attorney general of the 20th century. Just weeks into the job, she authorized the deadly 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian cult compound at Waco, Texas. She always said she made decisions based on evidence and the law.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
November 07, 2016 16:30 UTC
Clinton and Trump chase last-minute support
Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump crisscrossed the country on Monday as they raced to sway undecided voters in a tight US presidential race that has Clinton with a narrow lead according to opinion polls. With only one day left before Election Day, the Clinton campaign was boosted by Sunday's unexpected FBI announcement that it stood by its July decision not to press any criminal charges in an investigation of Clinton's email practices. A Fox News opinion poll on Monday had former Secretary of State Clinton leading Trump, a wealthy New York real estate developer, by four percentage points among likely voters. Major bookmakers and online exchanges were more confident than public opinion polling that Clinton will win Tuesday's election. Predictit put Clinton's chances of capturing the White House at 81 percent.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
November 07, 2016 16:25 UTC
Wall Street soars ahead of US election
Wall Street surged on the eve of the US presidential election, with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's prospects brightening after the FBI said it would not press criminal charges against her over the use of a private email server. The iShares MSCI Mexico ETF, known of late as the "Trump ETF," soared 5.12 percent and notched its best day in more than five years. The exchange-traded fund is viewed as a barometer for expectations that Republican Donald Trump could win the election since his policies are considered negative for Mexico. While polls last week showed Trump had been closing the gap, at least five major polls on Monday showed Clinton still had the lead in the race for the White House. Wall Street had closed lower for nine days in a row through Friday, its longest losing streak in more than 35 years.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
November 07, 2016 15:38 UTC
Austria at a turning point
If Austria received 120,000 refugees last year, it has recently sent 12,000 newcomers back to Germany with a further 3,000 stranded in Austria, Brandstetter replied. In general, Brandstetter feels that the Mauricio Macri administration is on the right track. In part his reasons were personal, Brandstetter replied — his family was anti-Nazi and his father a conscientious objector to military service. But there was also a need to remind the younger generations of this dark chapter of Austria’s history — the birthplace of Adolf Hitler needs to come to terms with its past. At the close of the interview held just around the corner from the Recoleta Cemetery, Brandstetter expressed a keen interest to see Eva Perón’s grave.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
November 04, 2016 18:18 UTC
United States braces for furious few days of campaigning
“We are going to win back the White House,” Trump told supporters gathered in the sweltering sun in Orlando. Clinton told workers in Las Vegas. A Democratic nominee for president has not won Arizona since Bill Clinton in 1996, but polls show a competitive contest there. Fundraising appeals have asked Clinton supporters to “have her back” at a difficult time. The tension was particularly acute in Miami, where the usual buffer zone between supporters and the travelling press was missing.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
November 04, 2016 17:59 UTC
Steak with a silver spoon
So, cash bursting from your pockets, head to the Alvear Palace’s La Bourgogne for steak with a silver spoon. The upshot is a legit meat experience that’s served on the best china and sliced up with silver cutlery. A saucy trio comprising chimi, salsa criolla and Bearnaise form part of the line up, naturally in silver gravy boats. Splendid steak, bathed in delicious smoky aromas, with grilled seasonal veg though not even I had the gall to suck on that bone AT THE ALVEAR. Links’ rib-eye — basically my steak but off the bone — was declared “lovely,” the smoke once again integral.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
November 04, 2016 17:50 UTC
“What does your wife do?”
Friday, November 4, 2016 “What does your wife do?”By Liliana PalermoFor the HeraldDouble Income, No Happiness(1)This question was probably a bit out of place not that long ago. In an era when we are expected to go above and beyond (10) for our jobs, our personal lives are suffering. Allowing some flexibility in the workplace is so important to help us maintain healthy personal lives. Marooned holdouts in quake-hit Italian town liken life to “stone age.”“rub the boss the wrong way” (9)It is a common belief that if you rub the wrong way on a cat’s fur, you annoy it because it doesn’t like that. He was known as a bad player who used to rub executive board members the wrong way.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
November 04, 2016 17:49 UTC
Why Argentina Should Keep Public Universities Free for Foreign Students
Argentina’s universities have become particularly attractive to students from Chile and Colombia, both of which have been plagued by high tuition fees. With the scathingly sarcastic title “Argentina: a generous country”, Lanata lambasted foreign students as freeloaders, mooching off Argentina’s public funds to the tune of, by his calculations, $360m (pesos) per year. On a regional level, Argentina’s universities perform quite well; the UBA consistently places at the top of rankings of Latin American universities. And, as is the case with Germany, free tuition coincides with lower inequality rates in Argentina relative to other countries in the region. Argentina’s background, as a country that has traditionally welcomed and accommodated foreign students, is a powerful statement about this identity; putting up obstacles to foreign students wishing to study here would be a grave threat to it.
Source:The Argentina Independent
November 04, 2016 17:06 UTC
The government is revamping the fight against money-laundering
Friday, November 4, 2016 The government is revamping the fight against money-launderingBy Pablo WaisbergFor the HeraldThe UIF watchdog seeks to relax the controls on evasion and thus offer tax reliefThe UIF (Unidad de Información Financiera) watchdog against money-laundering is advancing towards a policy aimed at excluding tax evasion as a crime linked to money-laundering. The prosecution of tax evasion is not the same in every country with Argentina being one of the most advanced. “We have a problem because international standards require that evasion be a crime preceding money-laundering. And this difficulty has led many international banks to withdraw from markets where the implementation of these norms has proved impossible in practice. “creative accountancy” and deals with governments to pay less taxes — and tax evasion.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
November 04, 2016 17:04 UTC
Congress Approves 2017 Budget
The Chamber of Deputies approved the 2017 budget yesterday with over two-thirds majority. The first budget of President Mauricio Macri’s government received 177 votes in favour, 58 against, and 4 abstentions. Speaking of the significant support for the budget, Mario Negri, spokesperson for the governing coalition Cambiemos, gave a summary at the end of the debate: “Maybe this budget doesn’t please everyone. It is the budget that we built together with the country that we inherited. It also forecasts an average exchange rate of around $18 to US$1, and an inflation rate of 17% for 2017.
Source:The Argentina Independent
November 04, 2016 12:41 UTC
The Costs of Fracking – An Interview with US Specialists in Argentina
Dr. Sandra Steingraber and Dr. Kathleen Nolan work with Concerned Health Professionals of New York, a group of scientists opposed to fracking. Steingraber and Nolan brought with them a compendium of scientific studies relating to fracking that has recently been translated into Spanish. It includes articles looking at health and environmental effects, as well the social impacts on communities in which fracking takes place. The Indy sat down with the North Americans to talk about the conference and the fracking debate in the US and Argentina. What do you say to people who think that fracking will bring economic benefits to communities?
Source:The Argentina Independent
November 03, 2016 13:31 UTC
One in Ten Argentines Living in Informal Settlements
One out of every ten inhabitants of urban centres in Argentina is living in precarious conditions and without basic services, a new study has revealed. The figures come from the 2015-2016 urban poverty study released this week by TECHO Argentina, an organisation covering social marginalisation and poverty in Latin America. Entitled “Relevamiento de Asentamientos Informales” (Survey of Informal Settlements), this new study is the NGO’s second major review of urban center poverty in Argentina. In Argentina’s urban centers, where at least 67% of the population resides, there are almost 3m inhabitants living in informal settlements. The report states, that while there have been some improvements since 2013 regarding access to basic services, the overall picture remains grim: “Approximately 40,800 families living in 136 housing units have improved access to basic services, or obtained the title to their property.
Source:The Argentina Independent
November 02, 2016 17:46 UTC
Suspect in fatal ambush of two Iowa police officers captured
Wednesday, November 2, 2016 Suspect in fatal ambush of two Iowa police officers capturedSuspect Scott Michael Greene, 46, was caught by Urbandale police after two Iowa police officers were shot dead in separate "ambush-style" killings as they sat in their patrol cars. Police in Iowa said on Wednesday they have captured a man suspected of killing two police officers hours earlier as they sat in their patrol cars in what authorities called separate and unprovoked attacks. Scott Michael Greene, who is 46 and white, was taken into custody after police named him as their suspect in the ambushes, a police spokeswoman in Urbandale, Iowa said. Police said they found the first slain officer's body about 1:06 a.m. (0606 GMT) in Urbandale, an affluent Des Moines suburb, and the second about 20 minutes later about two miles (3 km) away, in Des Moines. It was unclear what provoked Wednesday's attacks, Des Moines police department spokesman Paul Parizek told a news conference prior to Greene's arrest, adding that "we may never know."
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
November 02, 2016 14:55 UTC
State of emergency declared for Alabama after Colonial pipeline incident
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley on Tuesday declared a state of emergency for the state due to an explosion and fire involving Colonial Pipeline Co in Shelby County on Monday. "The State of Emergency is effective November 1, 2016 through December 1, 2016 unless sooner terminated," according to a statement from the governor's office. The declaration will facilitate a waiver from the US Department of Transportation – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, needed to lift a federal government limitation on the hours a driver can transport gasoline, the statement added.
Source:Bueno Aires Herald
November 01, 2016 20:39 UTC