Stories for December 2008
Latest News feedHMS Endurance is being towed to the Falklands
The Royal Navy ice patrol HMS Endurance left Punta Arenas, in the extreme south of Chile, midday Tuesday for the Falkland Islands pulled by two tugs, according to reports from the local reports.
Builders unearth 18th century galleon in Buenos Aires
Argentine builders stumbled across the wreck of an 18th century Spanish galleon while digging the foundations for a riverside high-rise building in Buenos Aires, archeologists said on Tuesday.
NY becomes US number 1 tourist city with 47 m. visitors
New York City attracted an estimated 47 million visitors and $30 billion in total spending in 2008, both record highs according to figures released by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and confirming the Big Apple as the projected number one tourist city of the United States.
Paraguay GDP grows 5.8% in 2008; record per capita income
The Paraguayan GDP expanded 5.8% in 2008 with a good performance in almost all sectors and a record per capita income, according to preliminary figures from the Central Bank released this week.
Brazil openly admits trade surplus benefits from Mercosur
The lack of mechanisms to correct asymmetries and finance infrastructure projects are the biggest hurdles for Mercosur and Latinamerican integration, according to the Brazilian presidency main foreign policy advisor Marco Aurelio Garcia.
Petrol price reached three-year low in United Kingdom
The price of petrol has reached a three-year low in the United Kingdom, according to the Automobile Association and reported in the London press. The average cost of petrol at the beginning of this week was 87.79p a litre compared with 88.27p at the end of December 2005.
UK covered up Falklands dependency Argentine occupation
The British Foreign office actively colluded with the Argentine Junta in the late seventies to cover up the occupation of a remote Falkland Islands dependency, Southern Thule, according to The Telegraph based on newly declassified files.
Dakar rally spirit invades Buenos Aires ready for launching
More than ten thousand people and 500 vehicles turned up on Monday in Buenos Aires, for the official launching of the 2009 Dakar Rally, which for the first time will be disputed outside Africa and takes off next January 3 from the Argentine capital covering 9.600 kilometres of Argentine and Chilean territory.
Energy: strong Big Brother Brazil medicine for Paraguay
Brazil is willing to correct with Paraguay some practical distortions in the implementation of the Itaipú shared hydroelectric dam system, but “not the Treaty”, said Marco Aurelio Garcia, President Lula da Silva’s main international affairs advisor.
Brazilian wants larger representation in Mercosur parliament
The president of the Mercosur Parliament has stated that Brazil should have four times the number of representatives from Paraguay and Uruguay. Deputy Doctor Rosinha argued that since Brazil has a population of 187 million, it should have 75 representatives, Argentina 33 and Paraguay and Uruguay, 18 each.
