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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, April 19th 2024 - 20:51 UTC

Stories for July 2015

  • Thursday, July 2nd 2015 - 06:04 UTC

    Brazil's budget during May back in the red; Congress restless about austerity

    A drop in tax revenues caused by a sharp economic contraction is complicating minister Levy's efforts to shore up the country's finances

    Brazil reported a primary budget deficit for May that was its widest for 2015, making its annual savings goal more difficult to achieve despite government efforts to raise taxes and cut spending. Central bank data showed a primary budget deficit of 6.9 billion Reais ($2.23 billion). This compared with a primary surplus of 13.445 billion Reais in April.

  • Thursday, July 2nd 2015 - 05:45 UTC

    FIFA chief Blatter convinced he's “clean” and one day will go to heaven

    “But if anybody calls me corrupt because FIFA is corrupt, I can only shake my head. Everybody who says something like that should go to jail” said Blatter

    Sepp Blatter, president of the world soccer governing body FIFA that is embroiled in corruption investigations, has told a German magazine he has a 'clean and clear' conscience and believes he will “go to heaven one day”.

  • Thursday, July 2nd 2015 - 05:24 UTC

    Gibraltar hosts 35-country EU Small Business Association in Brussels office

    In his welcome remarks to ESBA, Sir Graham Watson said: “European Small Business Association is the driving force of Europe’s economy.”

    Gibraltar House in Brussels hosted a board meeting of the European Small Business Association (ESBA). The Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses was a founding member of ESBA, and currently participates in it as a Board member. ESBA has its headquarters in the city and represents over one million small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed people from 35 countries.

  • Thursday, July 2nd 2015 - 05:17 UTC

    US embassy will be opened on July 20; Kerry will raise the flag in Havana

    “This is a historic step forward in our efforts to normalize relations with the Cuban government and people” Obama said.

    President Obama formally announced on Wednesday that the United States and Cuba have both agreed to open embassies in each other’s capitals following more than a half-century of hostilities between the two nations.

  • Wednesday, July 1st 2015 - 20:27 UTC

    Lack of sanitation for 2.4 billion people undermining health improvements

    “To benefit human health it is vital to further accelerate progress on sanitation, particularly in rural and underserved areas,” according to Dr Neira.

    Lack of progress on sanitation threatens to undermine the child survival and health benefits from gains in access to safe drinking water, warn WHO and UNICEF in a report tracking access to drinking water and sanitation against the Millennium Development Goals.

  • Wednesday, July 1st 2015 - 05:52 UTC

    Obama and Rousseff agree their nations are 'natural partners' and working on an 'upward trajectory'

    “I believe that this visit marks one more step in a new more ambitious chapter in the relations between our countries,” Obama said.

    President Barack Obama and visiting Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff sought Tuesday to cast their nations as “natural partners” collaborating closely on critical issues like climate and regional diplomacy, glossing over recent tensions over spying that have strained relations between the first and seventh world economies.

  • Wednesday, July 1st 2015 - 05:41 UTC

    Greece in IMF 'arrears'; it will default when it misses commercial payment

    S&P’s said it would designate Greece as being in default, if it cannot make payments to private creditors: ie €2 billion in Greek Treasury bills due 10 July

    Greece on Tuesday became the first developed country to join a roster that includes some of the world’s poorest and worst governed nations, including Iraq, Sudan, Somalia and Zimbabwe. Those are a few of the countries that have missed payments to the IMF as Greece did Tuesday, when it failed to make a loan payment of about 1.5 billion Euros, or $1.7 billion, to the fund.

  • Wednesday, July 1st 2015 - 03:51 UTC

    US and Cuba ready to announce embassies opening in Havana and Washington

    The White House announced that Obama would deliver a statement, presumably the formal announcement, in the Rose Garden on Wednesday.

    President Obama will announce on Wednesday that the U.S. and Cuba have reached an agreement to open embassies in Havana and Washington, an administration official has confirmed. The announcement marks a major step in ending hostilities between the longtime foes and an opportunity to re-establish formal diplomatic relations and apparently will be simultaneous from Havana.

  • Wednesday, July 1st 2015 - 03:26 UTC

    Brazil celebrates the opening of the US market for its fresh beef

    Brazil expects to export 100,000 tons of beef to the US in the next five years. Abreu said the decision is like “getting a pass code” to access other markets.

    U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced Monday that it is amending its regulations to allow imports of fresh (chilled or frozen) beef from (Argentina) and 14 states in Brazil. It's “the first step in a process for these regions to gain access to the U.S. market for beef”, the APHIS said in a statement.

  • Wednesday, July 1st 2015 - 02:57 UTC

    US opens its market to Argentine fresh beef imports; lemons still pending

    “This is the favorable and successful result of an arduous fight in international relationships and technical and agricultural questions,” Kicillof said

    Argentina announced that the United States APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) has allowed fresh beef imports from Argentina, lifting a 15-year ban which Buenos Aires had always considered 'unjustified' and bluntly 'protectionist' and as such had claimed before the WTO. In the same vein Argentina also anticipated it expected a similar decision from the US regarding Argentine lemons.