Stories for 2008

Thursday, February 28th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Light plane crashes in Santiago killing eleven

A small instruction plane belonging to Chile's Carabineros (uniformed police) crashed Wednesday morning into a recreational complex in the capital Santiago's Peñaloén borough. The accident left at least 11 people dead and a number of others injured.
Thursday, February 28th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Wildfires in Patagonia threaten centuries old trees

Wildfires raging at a national park in Argentina's Patagonia region since last Sunday are threatening to destroy trees up to thousands of years old and the government has called for residents in the area to evacuate homes and farms.
Thursday, February 28th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Antarctic cruise on ocean/atmosphere gases interaction

More than 30 scientists from all over the world embarked this week from the extreme south of Chile on a research mission to the Southern Ocean. Researchers will battle the elements to study how gases important to climate change move between the atmosphere and the ocean under high winds and seas.
Thursday, February 28th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
“Four years of de-mining” operations in Tierra del Fuego

Four years are needed to clear the five minefields planted by the Chilean Army in northern Tierra del Fuego, although one of them will be officially certified as “de-mined” at the end of 2008 according to Chilean Defence ministry sources, reports La Prensa Austral from Punta Arenas.
Thursday, February 28th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Searching in Africa clues to Antarctica's “deep freeze”

Welsh academics believe they have found a vital key to the climate switch, explaining why Antarctica went into a “deep freeze” 34 million years ago. The team of scientists from Cardiff University and National Museum Wales has been studying ice sheet formation in the frozen continent, reports ICWales.
Thursday, February 28th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
M/V Marco Polo on her final South Atlantic cruise

She doesn't have the grandeur or the glamour of QE2 but Marco Polo had been on South Atlantic cruises for the last fifteen years and this week saw her final tour of the region. Bahamas flagged, the 22.000 tons old lady belonging to Norwegian Cruise Line/Orient Line from Miami is currently sailing along the coast of Brazil and should be arriving in Lisbon the first week of March.
Thursday, February 28th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
France warns FARC on Betancourt's fragile condition

France warned on Thursday that French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt may have only weeks to live, after fellow captives released by Colombia's FARC guerrillas said her health was failing rapidly.
Thursday, February 28th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Fearing inflation China tightens credit and absorbs liquidity

China's Central Bank cautioned it's ready to raise the interest rate as early as late March to check inflation, which may surge as high as 8.7% in the twelve months to February. As a consequence of the recent blizzards that destroyed crops, food prices this month could jump 6 to 7 percentage points over January.
Wednesday, February 27th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Fed minutes reveal differences on interest rates cuts

Nine of Federal Reserve directors thought continued deterioration in financial markets and weakened economic conditions in the housing and labor markets needed the half percentage point cut to the discount rate last month.
Wednesday, February 27th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Quake shakes Britain, second largest since 1984

An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale shook England early on Wednesday morning.