Stories for February 2008

Sunday, February 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Norway determined to have its share of Antarctic fisheries

It had always been technically difficult to harvest the abundant valuable krill known to populate the ocean waters around Antarctica and preserve their quality in the process. In recently breaking in a new trawling technology, however, Norwegian company Aker Biomarine ASA has made the feat suddenly possible.
Sunday, February 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Crocodiles' possible “missing link” presented in Rio

The fossil of a land-bound reptile that could be a link between prehistoric and modern-day crocodiles was put on public display for the first time at the Federal University of Rio do Janeiro, reports National Geographic.
Sunday, February 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Credit happy Brazilian minister admits mistake and resigns

Brazil's Cabinet official for racial equality resigned Friday amid charges she had abused her government-issued corporate credit card. Matilde Ribeiro told a news conference that she had “committed a mistake” in using the card to pay for a chauffeured car, restaurant meals, hotels and purchases in a duty free shop in 2007.
Sunday, February 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Passengers survive plane crash in Bolivia

A plane carrying more than 150 people crash-landed in a bog in eastern Bolivia last Friday after fierce storms turned it away from its destination and it tried to reach another airport hundreds of miles away, according to officials and news reports. All on board survived.
Saturday, February 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Bali conference: “major setback” for fight against corruption

Transparency International (TI) and a broad civil society anti-corruption coalition have labelled as a major setback the failure of the Bali international corruption conference to agree on how to independently assess country progress in implementing the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).
Saturday, February 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Chile with record fiscal surplus in 2007: 8.7% of GDP

Chile finished 2007 with a record fiscal surplus of just under 14.5 billion US dollars, government officials acknowledged Wednesday. This figure represents 8.7% of Chile's overall GDP, which is also an all-time record.
Saturday, February 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Bad weather cancels QE 2 Falklands call; RAF farewell display

The much anticipated final visit to the Falkland Islands by the Queen Elizabeth 2 passenger liner has had to be cancelled, reports FIRS.
Saturday, February 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Chavez devalued and out of tune on his ninth anniversary

Controversial Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is celebrating this Saturday his ninth year in office but the outspoken, histrionic leader has lost much of his revolutionary élan following his first electoral defeat last December and surrounded by growing problems of internal security, inflation and shortages of food and home supplies.
Saturday, February 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Maradona's “hand of God” apology “too little, too late”

England's goalkeeper Peter Shilton has branded Diego Maradona's apology for his sly “Hand of God” goal in the 1986 World Cup as “too little, too late”.
Saturday, February 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
At least ten days to repair disrupted global net services

A submarine cable in the Middle East has been snapped, adding to global net problems caused by breaks in two lines under the Mediterranean on Wednesday, reports the BBC.