Stories for June 6th 2009
Poll shows Uruguay’s ruling coalition repeating next October
The Uruguayan ruling coalition could repeat in next October general election according to the latest public opinion poll released this week in Montevideo. Pollster Radar has the Broad Front of President Tabare Vazquez with a vote intention of 46.7% and the sum of the opposition parties with 40.1%.
Nuclear sub joins Flight 447 search; Iberia tailing flight sheds some light
While France announced Friday it was sending a nuclear submarine to help find the flight data recorders of the Air France plane, which this week disappeared over the Atlantic, a press report in the Spanish press involving an Iberia plane on the same route but flying ten minutes behind could shed light into what really happened.
Peru joins Odyssey/Spain dispute over recovered sunken treasure
United States treasure hunters Odyssey Marine Exploration were dealt a heavy blow this week after a Florida judge ordered the company to hand thousands of silver and gold coins to Spain. The case however could be exposed to another demand, this time from Peru which claims the original gold and silver came from the colonial viceroyship of Lima.
US job losses moderating but May rate reached 9.4%
The US White House economic adviser Christina Romer on Friday said that May payrolls data was consistent with a trend of moderating job losses, but the unemployment rate would stay high for a while.
Chilean inflation below target; economy heading for recession
Chile's consumer price index fell a bigger-than-expected 0.3% in May after a fall of 0.2% in April, the National Statistics Institute reported on Friday.
On an annual basis, inflation for the 12 months through May slowed to 3%, the Central Bank's target rate -- from 4.5% for the year through April. In the first five months of 2009, inflation is down to minus 1.1%.
Clashes with police over minerals’ rights kill 34 in Peruvian Amazon
At least 34 people have been reported killed in clashes in Peru between the security forces and indigenous people in the Amazon region protesting oil and gas exploration on their lands.
Right wing British National Party wins several county council seats
Right wing British National Party has won its first county council seats in Lancashire and Leicestershire as Labour was humiliated in local elections across England. Elsewhere, Peter Davies of the English Democrats celebrated victory in Doncaster's mayoral election and Labour lost its four remaining county councils to the Tories.
Chinalco “disappointed” with Rio Tinto’s decision to scrap deal
Aluminium Corp. of China, or Chinalco, confirmed Friday that Australian mining firm Rio Tinto has scrapped the proposed 19.5 billion US dollars of investment by Chinalco, and Rio Tinto would pay a break fee of 195 million U.S. dollars to the Chinese aluminium maker.
Rio Tinto decision was not “political” Australia assures Beijing
The Australian government reassured China on Saturday that miner Rio Tinto's decision to walk away from a 19.5 billion US dollars by investment by Beijing was not a political move.
PM Brown and reshuffled cabinet cling on
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown unveiled Friday a reshuffled cabinet and vowed to “fight on” with his “resilient” team to rescue the economy and clean up politics. He admitted Labour had suffered “a painful defeat” in Thursday's polls but added: “I will not waver. I will not walk away. I will get on with the job.” And he unveiled Glenys Kinnock as Europe minister in a surprise move.
