Stories for July 4th 2009
Argentine dissident Peronists want control of the party
Dissident members of the Argentine ruling Justicialista (Peronist) Party have asked for the removal of the party’s interim president and the naming of new authorities, following the debacle of last Sunday’s mid term election for President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and husband Nestor Kirchner.
Peruvian PM to step down; opens door for a cabinet reshuffle
Peruvian Prime Minister Yehude Simon said on Friday he planned to “irrevocably” step down next week following heavy criticism of the government’s handling of violent Amazon protests in which at least 50 people died last month.
OAS mission finds “no conditions” for Zelaya’s return to Honduras
The head of the Organisation of American States has said he found no willingness in Honduras’ interim government to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya. Jose Miguel Insulza said that “unfortunately, in Honduras the conditions are not there for Zelaya’s return”.
US regulators close seven banks; 52 so far in 2009
United States bank regulators closed seven institutions this week including six banks in Illinois controlled by one family and a small bank in Dallas, bringing the total number of US bank failures to 52 so far this year. (This compares with 25 in 2008 and 3 in 2007).
Brazil threatens to take Argentina to WTO on import licences
Brazil may file a complaint at the World Trade Organization against Argentina because of its delays in issuing import licenses for Brazilian goods according to Foreign Trade Chamber Secretary Lyntha Spindola.
Petrobras begins refining oil from the pre-salt basin
Brazil’s government managed oil corporation Petrobras reported this week it had begun refining oil from the Tupi field, located at the pre-salt area of Santos Basin which is Brazil’s great hope for becoming a major player in the world’s hydrocarbons market.
A/H1N1 virus “unstoppable”; vaccine access a “political question”
The United Nations top health official opened a forum in Mexico on combating the A/H1N1 flu saying that the spread of the virus worldwide is now “unstoppable”. World Health Organization head Margaret Chan added that the holding of the meeting in Cancun showed confidence in Mexico, which has been hard hit.
Rio Tinto shareholders help to reduce stress of the balance sheet
A call for cash by Rio Tinto has seen a strong take-up from its existing Australian shareholders - a day after similar success in the UK. The mining giant saw 95% of the heavily discounted shares available in Sydney taken up. It had earlier reported a 96.97% take-up of London shares.
Deficit shocked California closes state offices and prints IOUs
The governor of California has declared a fiscal emergency in the US state to address a budget deficit of some 24.3 billion US dollars. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also ordered many state offices to close for three days each month until June 2010, with staff unpaid for those days. As an immediate reply the state began printing 53 million US dollars in IOU.
