April, 2016

• 27 April

  Argentina’s YPF set to resume crude exports after two years

  

    Bloomberg YPF SA is set to export crude oil from Argentina for the first time in two years next month, taking advantage of a new government subsidy. It was the state-controlled oil company’s first use of an incentive announced last month to spur drilling amid low oil prices. YPF sold 200,000 barrels of Escalante crude to PetroChina Co. as ...

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• 27 April

  Venezuela orders 2-day work week in bid to save energy

    Bloomberg Venezuela declared a two-day work week for government workers and said it was seeking international help to save its power grid amid a drought that threatens the capital’s main source of electricity. The two-day work week, after the government added Wednesdays and Thursdays as non-working days to save more power, will last at least two weeks, President Nicolas ...

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• 27 April

  Mexico unemployment falls to lowest in 8 yrs

    Bloomberg Mexico’s unemployment rate fell to the lowest in almost eight years in March, the latest sign of stronger growth in Latin America’s second-largest economy. The unemployment rate fell to 3.74 percent in non-seasonally adjusted terms, according to a report published on Wednesday by the nation’s statistics agency, known as Inegi. That was below the 3.9 percent median estimate ...

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• 27 April

  Austria mulls rejecting most migrants amid far-right surge

  

    Vienna/ AFP The Austrian parliament voted on Wednesday on adopting some of Europe’s toughest asylum laws, as the country’s political leaders struggle to halt the surging far-right which triumphed in a weekend presidential poll. The hotly-disputed bill would let the government declare a “state of emergency” over the migrant crisis and reject most asylum-seekers, including from war-torn countries like ...

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• 27 April

  IS advances against rebels in north Syria

    BEIRUT / AP Militants from the IS group seized five villages from Syrian rebels close to the Turkish border on Wednesday, further weakening the rebels’ foothold in the Aleppo area. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a network of activists monitoring the Syria conflict, said the extremist group took five villages in Azaz district, north of Aleppo, where ...

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• 27 April

  Sudanese refugee to make debut in Australian Rules

    SYDNEY/ AFP Sudanese refugee Aliir Aliir will complete an extraordinary journey when he makes his debut for the Sydney Swans against Brisbane on Sunday in Australian Rules football. The 21-year-old Aliir was born in a Kenyan refugee camp to parents who fled war-torn Sudan and arrived in Australia as a small child. He played soccer and basketball before taking ...

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• 27 April

  Germany replaces spy chief after damning NSA report

  

    Berlin / AFP Germany announced on Wednesday it is replacing the head of its foreign intelligence service, which has been rocked by revelations it helped the US National Security Agency spy on European targets. Gerhard Schindler, 63, will take early retirement from July 1, leaving the reins of the BND service to Bruno Kahl, a trained lawyer and currently high-ranking ...

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• 27 April

  Amid outside pressure, N Korea sets date for key convention

  

    SEOUL / AP Facing mounting international pressure over its nuclear and missile ambitions, North Korea has set a date for its biggest political convention in decades next week that is expected to bolster young dictator Kim Jong un’s grip on power. The ruling Workers’ Party, led by Kim, will open its 7th congress in Pyongyang on May 6, the ...

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• 27 April

  Iran parliament in balance in poll run-offs

  

    Tehran / AFP Nearly a quarter of Iran’s parliamentary seats are at stake on Friday in an election in which reformists want to consolidate their recent comeback and minimise the clout of hardline lawmakers. The second round run-offs were triggered because no candidate in 68 constituencies managed to win 25 percent of votes cast in the initial nationwide ballot on ...

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• 27 April

  Conflict in the Caucasus

  

    STEPANAKERT, Nagorno-Karabakh The military commander of this breakaway Armenian republic predicted in an interview here Monday that a fragile cease-fire could collapse within days. By that night, Azerbaijani shelling had killed two Armenian soldiers in a northern border town, amid accusations by each side that the other had violated the truce. The “frozen conflict” here, stalemated for 22 years, ...

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