Stories for October 30th 2008
Chavez has his own Chinese built, launched satellite
The first Venezuelan telecommunications satellite was launched Wednesday from the western Chinese province of Sichuan. The 3.1 ton satellite, named after Latin American liberator Simon Bolivar, was built by China at a cost of 406 million dollars and puts Venezuela in the region's space club which includes Brazil and Argentina.
Heavy fine on BT for fixing MoD phone calls
BT has been forced to pay the UK Ministry of Defence £1.3m in compensation after some of its staff met call-answering targets by phoning each other. The Audit Commission found they fixed figures to help the company avoid fines for not answering calls quickly enough.
IMF announces 100 billion emergency fund; Argentina out
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is creating an emergency fund for emerging market economies to help them weather the global credit crisis. The Group of 24 developing countries, which includes nations from Latin America, Asia and Africa, had requested such a development earlier this month.
Fed swap lines with Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore
The US Federal Reserve agreed on Wednesday to provide 30 billion US dollars each to the central banks of Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore, expanding its effort to unfreeze money markets to emerging nations for the first time.
Paraguay promises protection to Brazilian land-holders
Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo said in Washington his administration guarantees the security of all Brazilian residents in the country, but also emphasized they must respect the Paraguayan legal system.
Uruguay's ruling coalition dispute extends to the Senate
Uruguay's ruling coalition 2009 presidential candidate dispute has extended to the Senate where President Tabare Vazquez has been unable so far, to garner the sufficient votes to support the nomination of Central Bank members which is currently headless.
Overseas Territories talks positive says Falklands councilor
“POSITIVE and constructive” was how Falklands councillor Mike Summers described talks held at the Overseas Territories Consultative Council (OTCC) this week.
UN instructs Uruguay blue helmets to defend Congolese city
United Nations ordered a contingent of 600 Uruguayan blue helmets to take over the defence of the Congolese city of Goma --and its airport--, devastated by combats between the Congolese Army and rebel forces under the command of Laurent Nkunda.
US economy shrinks 0.3%; crisis effects reaching jobs market
The United States economy shrank at an annualised rate of 0.3% between July and September, according to figures from the Commerce Department. GDP figures were better than expected, although they show the sharpest contraction of the economy since 2001.
Brazil leaves rates unchanged in spite of inflation fears
Brazil's central bank left the basic SELIC rate unchanged for the first time in six months on Wednesday. The Copom monetary council led by Henrique Meirelles voted unanimously to keep the benchmark interest rate ”for the moment'' at a two-year high of 13.75%.
