Lucila Sigal

Argentina has approved Canadian miner McEwen Copper's $2.7 billion Los Azules copper project in the country for a tax break program known as the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI), the nation's economy minister said on Friday.

Argentina officials on Wednesday announced they had recovered a painting stolen decades ago by the Nazis following days of international intrigue and raids to track down the work of art after it was spotted in a real estate photo.

Human rights lawyers said on Friday they have filed a criminal complaint in Argentina's federal courts seeking the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he sets foot in the country, amid reports of a possible visit in September that remains unconfirmed.

Miner and trader Glencore will aim to produce nearly 1 million tons of copper annually at its planned El Pachon and Agua Rica projects in Argentina over the next 10 to 15 years, the company's CEO in the Latin American country said on Thursday.

Argentina's Gualcamayo gold mine is aiming to build a new $665 million project it hopes will qualify for a new government incentive program, executives said in a recent press tour of the site.

The joint operators of Argentina's Veladero gold mine, Barrick Gold and Shandong Gold , are seeking to add a $400 million project to a new government regime designed to attract large investments.

Argentina holds rich copper deposits in the mountainous north along the Chilean border, but, unlike its mining powerhouse neighbor, has not built power lines and roads needed for new projects backed by miners such as BHP and Rio Tinto.

BHP and Lundin plan to soon apply for a new Argentine investment incentives scheme for their Vicuna copper project, but other miners fear they may get left out before the program's cut-off date a year from now, executives said at a mining conference this week.

After participating in Mercosur trade talks in Buenos Aires, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on Thursday at her apartment in Buenos Aires, where she is serving a six-year sentence for corruption.

"Fraternity, tolerance, and respect are dying," Archbishop Jorge Garcia Cuerva told the congregation during a religious ceremony for the anniversary of the May Revolution of 1810.