Stories for December 2008

Tuesday, December 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Petrol price reached three-year low in United Kingdom

The price of petrol has reached a three-year low in the United Kingdom, according to the Automobile Association and reported in the London press. The average cost of petrol at the beginning of this week was 87.79p a litre compared with 88.27p at the end of December 2005.
Tuesday, December 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Brazil openly admits trade surplus benefits from Mercosur

The lack of mechanisms to correct asymmetries and finance infrastructure projects are the biggest hurdles for Mercosur and Latinamerican integration, according to the Brazilian presidency main foreign policy advisor Marco Aurelio Garcia.
Tuesday, December 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Paraguay GDP grows 5.8% in 2008; record per capita income

The Paraguayan GDP expanded 5.8% in 2008 with a good performance in almost all sectors and a record per capita income, according to preliminary figures from the Central Bank released this week.
Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Foreign tourists' arrivals in Spain fall 11.6% in Nov.

Arrivals of foreign tourists to Spain, the world's second biggest tourist destination, plummeted in November as top customers Britons and Germans stayed at home during the global economic slowdown.
Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
EU Court rules airlines must compensate for technical problems

Airlines must pay compensation to passengers whose flights are cancelled because of technical problems with the plane, European judges ruled this week.

The only exception, said the European Court of Justice, is if the technical problems are caused by “extraordinary” events outside the normal activities of the airline - such as terrorism or sabotage or a hidden manufacturing fault which suddenly comes to light.
Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Coal mining venture threatens Chilean Patagonia Island

A coal mining venture being considered for Chile's Region X Isla Guafo, off the southwest coast of Chiloé, is raising alarm bells among area scientists, indigenous groups and local fishermen who fear the endeavour could cause irreparable harm to the uninhabited island's diverse and abundant wildlife.
Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Warning of fake Colgate toothpaste in UK main chain stores

Thousands of tubes of fake Colgate toothpaste have been recalled by Britain's main chain stores Sainsbury's and Boots. Both stores have contacted customers directly and put up notices in shops concerning the counterfeit product sold between 28 November and 5 December.
Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Damien Hirst Mexico vacation with SAS bodyguards

Damien Hirst, the British artist with a personal fortune estimated in excess of 300 million US dollars has hired four personal bodyguards who are all former members of the SAS, British special forces.
Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Copper keeps sliding, reaches a four year low at 1.27 USD lb

The price of copper, Chile's biggest export, may not rebound past 2 US dollars per pound after the international credit crisis hammered speculators, according to Santiago Gonzalez, Chile's Mining minister. Copper reached last week a four year low.
Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Origin of Species controversy on Darwin's bicentennial

As the scientific world prepares to mark Charles Darwin's bicentenary, the author of On the Origin of Species is facing accusations of plagiarism and unjustly claiming credit as the father of evolutionary theory.