BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s president says Congress should launch a debate on legalizing abortion.

President Mauricio Macri told lawmakers Thursday that he is against abortion, but favours “mature, responsible debates.” He said that his government believes that Congress should include the issue in its 2018 agenda.

Macri spoke during his annual state of the nation speech to Congress.

Abortion is only allowed in Argentina in cases of rape and health risks to the woman.

Thousands of people recently gathered at a demonstration by pro-abortion activists in front of the Congress building in Buenos Aires to demand free and safe abortions.

Opposition party lawmakers say they will soon present a bill to legalize abortions in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. </s> Macri was in Olivos when the call came from Netanyahu, who was in Israel. Both leaders spoke in English for 15 minutes, and are likely to be in New York during the United Nations General Assembly. Later, Macri will receive Secretary Pompeo, who stays in Buenos Aires until the early hours of Saturday. </s> BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine President Mauricio Macri said he would propose an amnesty law for informal workers in a speech to Congress on Thursday, a sign his administration is scaling back a previously proposed labor reform that met fierce resistance from unions.

Argentina's President Mauricio Macri waves as he arrives for the opening session of the 136th legislative term at the Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 1, 2018. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

In the speech marking the opening of this year’s legislative session, Macri defended his business-friendly government’s so-called “gradualist” approach to economic reforms from critics who argue he should move faster to cut government spending and lower taxes in order to boost growth and attract investment.

“They ask us for a shock adjustment, and to them I say we came here to reduce poverty and make sure that no Argentine goes hungry,” Macri said. “That’s why we chose the path of ‘gradualist’ change.”

Since taking office in December 2015 after more than a decade of populist rule, Macri has reached a deal with creditors to allow Argentina to exit default, cut grains export taxes, and reduced utilities to lower the fiscal deficit to the government target of 3.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year.

Despite his “Let’s Change” coalition’s strong performance in last October’s legislative elections, it still lacks a majority, and reforms Macri has proposed since then have generated vocal opposition. A reform to the country’s pension system passed last December only after violent clashes outside Congress.

Macri had also promised more immediate and drastic changes to the country’s labor laws, widely seen as among the most costly to companies in Latin America. Certain elements of that proposal, such as lower corporate penalties for firing workers, prompted an outcry from powerful labor unions.

His focus on Thursday on just one element of the proposal, the labor amnesty, was indicative of the piecemeal approach the government now plans. One-third of workers in Argentina are off-the-books, Macri said, and the law would allow them to formally register without losing seniority or benefits.

He also called on the Senate to pass a reform to the country’s capital markets law that had previously been passed by the lower house.

Macri suggested Congress debate the legalization of abortion, a divisive issue in the heavily Roman Catholic country, even though he is personally opposed.

“I am in favor of life, but I also support mature debates,” he said. </s> BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The Latest on President Donald Trump at the Group of 20 summit (all times local):

President Donald Trump is meeting Argentine President Mauricio Macri as he kicks off two days of diplomacy at the G-20 meeting.

The leaders greeted each other warmly Friday as the annual meeting of leaders from rich and developing nations opened in Buenos Aires. Trump spoke about his longtime personal friendship with Macri and said they would discuss trade, military purchases and other issues.

Macri is hosting his counterparts as he struggles with a raft of domestic issues, including trying to halt economic turmoil that has caused the steep depreciation of the Argentine peso.

Trump and Macri enjoy a personal relationship dating back to their days as businessman.

Macri visited the White House soon after Trump took office in 2017.

President Donald Trump is blasting the investigation in which his former lawyer pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a Moscow real estate deal he pursued for Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Michael Cohen says he lied to be consistent with Trump's "political messaging." Trump says Cohen is lying now.

In a tweet Friday from Argentina, Trump recalled "happily living" his life as a developer before running for president after seeing the "Country going in the wrong direction."

Trump says "Against all odds" he decided to run for president and continue to run his business, which he calls "very legal & very cool." He says he "talked about it on the campaign trail."

Trump tweets he "Lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn't do the project. Witch Hunt!"

President Trump kicks off two days of diplomacy at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina on Friday after his abrupt decision to cancel a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin overshadowed the proceedings before they even started.

Trump barreled into the two-day meeting by announcing via Twitter that he was canceling on Putin over Russia's seizure of Ukrainian vessels. His agenda Friday is expected to include meetings with world leaders, the signing of a revamped trade deal with Canada and Mexico, as well as a number of group activities for the gathering of rich and developing nations.

Coming into this G-20, Trump faces a series of diplomatic challenges — most notably whether he can strike an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng) to ease trade tensions.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> FILE - In this April 17, 2019 file photo, Argentina's Treasury Minister Nicolas Dujovne speaks during a press conference at Quinta de Olivos, in greater Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dujovne announced on Saturday, Aug. 17, that he is quitting his post in the government of President Mauricio Macri. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina's treasury minister, Nicolás Dujovne, resigned Saturday and will be replaced by the economy minister of the country's most populous state, a senior official in the presidential office said.

The resignation came three days after President Nicolas Macri announced his conservative administration is temporarily increasing the minimum wage, reducing payroll taxes and implementing other steps to help Argentine workers as the country struggles to overcome sizzling inflation, high unemployment and other economic problems.

Macri acted after a leftist presidential slate that includes his predecessor, Cristina Fernández, turned in a powerful showing last Sunday in primary voting for candidates going into October general elections. Macri's slate did poorly, and the already weak Argentine peso slumped and stock prices fell sharply as investors reacted in worry about the vote results.

In his resignation letter, Dujovne reportedly says the government needs to make "a significant overhaul in the economic area." He says the administration made strides in reducing the government's deficit and reducing taxes, but adds that "we undoubtedly made mistakes."

The presidency official, who agreed to confirm the resignation only if not quoted by name, said Dujovne would be replaced by Hernán Lacunza, the economy minister for Buenos Aires province. Lacunza previously was general manager of the Central Bank. </s> Armed man arrested in Argentina’s presidential office: he wanted to meet with Mauricio Macri

An armed man was arrested in the Casa Rosada, Argentina’s presidential office, who tried to enter on the grounds that he had an audience with President Mauricio Macri. The suspect was carrying a box with a Magnum 44 Taurus revolver and was arrested by the Military House before entering the building, according to information from the Government office in Buenos Aires.

The arrested man is Francisco Ariel Muñiz (36), a person who, claiming to have a hearing with the president, tried to enter with a firearm in his portfolio.

Upon finding out that the hearing with the president did not exist, the man tried to leave the briefcase containing a Magnum 44 Taurus revolver, the Argentine presidency added in a bulletin.

This fact occurs almost two years after a man with psychiatric problems also tried to circumvent the security of the building by crashing into the bars of the Casa Rosada during night.

The head of state has received various threats through social networks and by telephone, as when in August 2017 a 26-year-old man was apprehended and accused of threatening to burst his house.

Last November, four teenagers were imprisoned and later released, for trying to enter with a car in a Macri holliday residence, giving as an excuse that one was the goddaughter of the president.

They had managed to pass the first access control to the fifth, at a time when the president was resting with his family.

However, when the security officers became aware of the deception and tried to stop them, the driver of the car backed off and left the place, which led to a police pursuit.

 Finally, the four were arrested later in a fast food restaurant.

The image of Macri has fallen sharply in the polls in recent months, which has worsened the economic crisis that the country is living since, at the end of April 2018, began a sharp devaluation of the peso, inflation rose and it was triggered in a recession that still continues. Macri is still a candidate for October’s presidential elections. </s> BUENOS AIRES _ Argentina's Treasury Minister Nicolas Dujovne resigned on Saturday, days after President Mauricio Macri suffered a heavy setback in primary elections sending the peso into a nose drive.

In a letter to Macri published by newspaper Clarin, Dujovne said "circumstances" required a "significant renewal in the economic area."

Dujovne, who took the post in 2017 and led bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund last year, said that much was accomplished in terms of taming the deficit and trimming public spending, but "without a doubt mistakes were made."

According to Clarin, Dujovne will be replaced by Buenos Aires province Economy Minister Hernan Lacunza.

The minister's resignation comes three days after Macri announced a package of tax cuts and other economic relief measures for workers and companies following a surprise defeat in primaries on Sunday.

Macri took only 32% of the vote, against nearly 48% for opposition candidate Alberto Fernandez. The primaries, which whittled down the number of presidential candidates, were considered an important indicator of public opinion before the presidential elections on Oct. 27.

The defeat, attributed largely to Macri's austerity policies and Argentina's economic difficulties, sent the peso into a nose drive amid fears among investors that a Fernandez presidency could see protectionist policies implemented.

The South American country is in a recession, urban poverty remains high, inflation is running in the double digits and unemployment stood at 10% in the first quarter.

PHOTO (for help with images, contact 312-222-4194):ARGENTINA-TREASURY-RESIGN </s> Argentine President Mauricio Macri and his rivals in the October election launched their campaign ads on local TV on Sunday, targeting undecided voters who will be key to choosing whether his policies remain in place another four years.

Macri’s campaign, which has been hit hard by the country’s economic crisis, highlighted the public works and infrastructure projects started in his administration. “It’s going from abandonment to building a new reality every day,” Macri said in the campaign ad.

Macri’s chief rival, Alberto Fernandez, who is running on a ticket with former leftist president Cristina Fernandez, describes himself as a “conciliatory” politician and “a normal guy.”

 “I’m going to bring order to the chaos they’re leaving us. We have the strength to do it,” Fernandez said in his ad.

Former economy minister Roberto Lavanga is also running, portraying himself as an alternative to Macri and Fernandez and the economic troubles that marked their terms.

 “Only you can put an end to this,” a voiceover in Lavanga’s ad says, showing him walking with his running mate.

If no candidate wins 45% of votes or 40% with a 10-point lead over the runner-up in the Oct. 27 election, a run-off vote between the top two candidates will be held in November. </s> BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — World leaders arrived Thursday in the Argentine capital for the Group of 20 summit of the globe's largest economies as issues such as a trade war between the United States and China, the killing of a Saudi journalist in the country's Istanbul Consulate and the conflict over Ukraine threatened to overshadow the gathering.

The two-day summit beginning Friday is supposed to focus on development, infrastructure and food security, but those seemed largely an afterthought amid soured U.S.-European relations and as the United States, Mexico and Canada hammered out the final language of a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement expected to be signed Friday.

Michael Shifter, head of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank, said that this G-20 summit was once considered an opportunity for Latin American members Argentina, Brazil and Mexico "to project a regional bloc to shape a global agenda."

But, he said, "that turned out to be a fleeting aspiration."

"The fact that the G-20 is taking place in South America for the first time is almost beside the point," Shifter said. "Argentine President Mauricio Macri, the summit's host, has lowered expectations. ... Now a success would be a summit meeting that goes smoothly, without any major disruption."

Nonetheless, French President Emmanuel Macron, who flew into Buenos Aires on Wednesday as one of the earliest arrivers, clung to the importance of the ideal of cooperation that the G-20 represents.

"I believe in our capacity to make the spirit of dialogue and cooperation triumph," Macron said at a joint news conference with Macri, warning that if nations "close down," the alternative could be trade wars or armed conflict.

Macron also called for international involvement and "complete clarity" in investigations into the killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and said European leaders should discuss it at a meeting Friday.

Macri said the matter of the killing would be "on the table" during bilateral and possibly broader meetings.

Saudia Arabia has denied that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman played a role in Khashoggi's gruesome slaying. But Human Rights Watch accuses him of responsibility and also of war crimes in Yemen, and on Wednesday, Argentine legal authorities took initial action to consider a request to prosecute him for alleged crimes against humanity, a move apparently aimed at embarrassing him as he attends the summit.

It is to be bin Salman's first significant appearance overseas since the killing. Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia over the incident, is also in attendance.

"Given the role that Turkey has played in this, given that the murder happened at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, this will be an interesting meeting," said Willis Sparks, director of global macro politics at Eurasia Group. "Just to see how leaders interact with the crown prince will be interesting — how warm they are. I expect (U.S. President Donald) Trump to be very warm with him, but European leaders probably are going to be very reluctant to have their pictures taken with him."

An expected high-profile bilateral meeting between Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin planned for Saturday was abruptly canceled by Trump, who made the announcement in a tweet citing Russia's seizure of Ukrainian vessels over the weekend.

The Kremlin said it had not been notified and only learned about it from the tweet. Russian news agencies quoted Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying the cancellation means that Putin will have "a couple more hours" for "useful meetings" with G-20 leaders.

Trump was still scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but analysts were not optimistic about prospects for a major breakthrough on the two countries' trade disputes a month before U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods are set to ramp up.

Shannon O'Neil, an expert on global trade at the Council on Foreign Relations, said she believes it "very likely" that the tariffs will take effect in January.

"I think this is an issue that Trump cares a lot about and is going to use when he campaigns for 2020," O'Neil said. "It used to be Mexico and NAFTA, and now it's going to be China."

The U.S., Canada and Mexico are scheduled to sign the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that is replacing the NAFTA trade deal during a ceremony Friday. There had been speculation Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau might not attend and send his foreign minister instead if Trump did not lift steel and aluminum tariffs, but Trudeau's press secretary confirmed Thursday night that he would be at the ceremony.

The foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, said the three countries were "very much on track" to sign on time.

"These agreements are massive, and a vast number of technical details need to be scrubbed and wrapped up," she said. "The fact that this is an agreement in three languages adds to the level of technical complexity, and it is on that level that we're just being sure that all the i's are dotted and all the t's are crossed."

The pact must still be approved by lawmakers in all three countries. O'Neil said she anticipates that to be "quite smooth" in Mexico and Canada, but passage could be more complicated in the United States after midterm elections flipped the House of Representatives, meaning the next speaker could be Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

"There are some ... things in there that I think Democrats can support," O'Neil said. "But I can't imagine having a new NAFTA is going to be Pelosi's first priority when she comes in, so I'd expect it to be drawn out."

It stands to be a short visit for Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who is scheduled to return to his country for the inauguration Saturday of his successor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

On Thursday, Macron criticized protectionist stances by Trump but said they have no plans for a one-on-one at the summit. The two have increasingly clashed in recent weeks on everything from Trump's nationalism to wine tariffs.

The French president envisions himself as a new leader of the free world and is fashioning himself at this summit as the anti-Trump — a champion of the Paris climate accord, defender of the postwar system of global trade and crusader against multinational tax evaders.

Macron warned that Europe might not sign trade deals with the South American regional bloc Mercosur if Brazil's incoming president, Jair Bolsonaro, pulls out of the Paris accord.

Taking the world stage at the G-20 is a welcome relief for Macron, who has faced mass protests at home over rising fuel taxes that are the biggest challenge yet to his presidency. But his party dominates parliament and neither faces re-election until 2022.

Other European leaders at the summit are facing domestic struggles of their own. Britain's Theresa May is fighting for political survival as she tries to pull her country out of the European Union. Germany's Angela Merkel is preparing to leave politics after announcing last month she would give up leadership of her party, a post she has held since 2000. Italy's Giuseppe Conte heads a populist coalition that is clashing with the EU and suffers internal divisions.

Senior German officials, briefing reporters in Berlin on condition of anonymity, said Merkel planned to hold bilateral meetings with Trump, Putin, Xi, India's Narendra Modi, Australia's Scott Morrison and Macri. Merkel was supposed to arrive in Buenos Aires early Friday, but her plane returned to Germany on Thursday night due to a technical problem. A German air force plane was being readied to carry the chancellor and her entourage.

The British Embassy in Argentina said May's visit would be the first by a U.K. prime minister to Buenos Aires; the only other prime minister to visit the country was Tony Blair who went to Puerto Iguazu in 2001. The two countries have long been at odds over the disputed islands known as the Falklands in Britain and the Malvinas in Argentina.

Outside Argentina's congress, as many as 1,000 people gathered Thursday for a forum hosted by organizations opposing the G-20 and the International Monetary Fund. A large inflatable blimp caricaturing Trump as a baby holding a cellphone — which has appeared at protests in other places the U.S. president has visited — floated over the square underneath a light rain.

Thomas Bernes of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, a Canada-based think tank focusing on global governance, said this summit could be a defining moment for the Group of 20 — for better or for worse.

"The G-20 Leader's Summit is at risk of falling into disarray with the summit being overshadowed by items not on agenda," Bernes said. "The true test will be whether the other members of the G-20 will act resolutely or whether we will witness the crumbling of the G-20 as a forum for international economic cooperation."
Argentine President Mauricio Macri delivers a speech in the Congress to start the regular sessions for 2018.