||| DIPLOMACY. Boosts bilateral cooperation with Argentina

Chávez does deals

||| The deals focused on technology in farming and industry, and covered numerous sectors. Chávez spoke to Argentine business executives and thanked them for their support. Argentine technology will be used at 30 new "socialist factories" in Venezuela. [4]

Striving for closer
economic ties

The presidents of Argentina and Brazil challenged the private sector to deepen its "productive alliance" in their remarks on Monday before the largest business gathering in 22 years of bilateral integration. The most emphatic call came from Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who emphasized that companies "can do much more" than he and Argentine counterpart Cristina Fernández. The firms have the "most important" role not only to "join production chains" but also to help overcome "the bureaucracies that are obstructing them," said Lula before about 1,000 executives from both countries meeting in a Buenos Aires hotel. Fernández urged the conference participants "to take advantage of the unique opportunity" posed by the economic growth of Argentina and Brazil "in a world that is changing in a very accelerated manner." [5] Eduardo Di Baia / AP Photo

Breaking news

||| Brazil wants U.S. help in managing nuclear waste

BRASILIA, Brazil – Brazil asked the United States for help in managing waste from its nuclear reactors during a visit Tuesday from American Deputy Secretary of Energy Jeffery Kupfer.
Brazilian Mines and Energy Secretary Edson Lobao said the United States has made significant advances in the storage of residue from reactors. "We can benefit from the Americans' experience," Lobao said after meeting Kupfer. Kupfer's visit comes as Brazil is preparing to restart work on its third nuclear plant, Angra 3. One of the requirements for the plant's environmental license was the development of a better waste storage system.
Currently, Brazil's nuclear waste is stored in a system of "pools," long criticized by environmentalists who say the system risks spilling waste into the ocean.
"The United States sees nuclear energy as an essential part of its energy supply into the future. We are in the process of constructing new reactors after a long period and the theme of waste management is an essential component of that process," Kupfer said.

DOUBT.

Federal investigators want to question Mary-Kate Olsen about how Heath Ledger got two powerful painkillers that contributed to his death. [16]

Tourism Supplement
Inside Today

Don't miss today's special supplement on Tourism, which features extraordinary articles on local spots you must visit in your upcoming vacations. Enjoy! [11]