Stories for May 1st 2008

Thursday, May 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Oil exploration in Magallanes Region begins in six months

The international hydrocarbons corporations which last October were awarded oil exploration licences in the extreme south of Chile signed on Wednesday the operation contracts with the Chilean government during a ceremony headed by President Michelle Bachelet in Punta Arenas.
Thursday, May 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Argentine farmer grass roots to decide on government deal

The Argentine government and farmers seem to have reached a deal just hours before the May 2 truce comes to an end. In exchange for liberating the wheat market and reopening the beef export registry, farmers will put the initiative to consideration, together with the extension of the truce, to their respective organizations.
Thursday, May 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Japan and S. Korea interested in Brazil's bullet train

Japanese and South Korean corporations announced their interest in Brazil's first bullet train which is expected to be set to bid in the first quarter of next year. Brazil's cabinet chief Dilma Rousseff is currently visiting Japan where she was approached by the corporations.
Thursday, May 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC
US mortgages rot deep rooted in German banks

The European Union on Wednesday approved a German bailout of WestLB, a regional bank that lost billions from US mortgages gone badly. Germany can now put up 5 billion Euros to help the bank ride out its exposure to the subprime banking crisis.
Thursday, May 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC
European MPs visit Brazil to address beef and bio-fuels

A delegation of 12 European Members of Parliament are currently in Brazil to assess livestock and beef conditions, and the bio fuels industry. The visit is considered significant because Brazil has only just managed to resume beef exports to the EU after Brussels imposed last February a temporary ban based on sanitary rules.
Thursday, May 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Falklands entitled to develop a petroleum industry, says FCO

The Falkland Islands government is entitled to develop a hydrocarbons industry underlined the United Kingdom after reaffirming its sovereignty over the South Atlantic Islands following a formal protest from Argentina regarding a “new oil exploration licensing round”.
Thursday, May 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Bolivia wraps up majority control of oil and telephones

Bolivia announced on Thursday, May first, that it had completed the purchase of majority ownership of four energy companies by buying back shares in the firms as part of a nationalization drive started exactly two years ago.
Thursday, May 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Fuel prices hiked in Brazil; first time since 2005

Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega this week announced a 10% hike in the price of gasoline and 15% for diesel fuel, the first such increase since 2005. The increases refer to products from Petrobras, the country's government owned oil corporation which sets the pace for the rest of the industry.
Thursday, May 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Lula da Silva praises Brazil's two sided “investment grade”

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva celebrated the country's newly acquired investment grade condition and magnet for foreign investment. “Brazil is a serious country, with serious policies, which looks after its finances seriously, and that is why we now have achieved the international trust, which Brazil was after for a long time”
Thursday, May 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Call to defend human rights activists in Colombia

A group of independent United Nations experts have called for urgent measures to protect those defending human rights in Colombia, following a recent surge in violence that includes killings, harassment and intimidation of civil society activists, trade union leaders and lawyers representing victims.