Stories for 2008

Saturday, October 11th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Ex-Argentine dictator leaves house arrest for military prison

Former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla was taken to a military prison Friday, after a federal judge revoked the benefit of house arrest that he had enjoyed for 10 years.
Saturday, October 11th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Price of crude has plunged 50% since July's peak

The price of crude oil has now plunged by almost 50% since striking record high levels above 147 US dollars per barrel on July 11. Trading on Friday was below 80 US dollars a barrel as demand declines amid a worsening economic outlook caused by a global credit crisis.
Friday, October 10th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Brazil expects record crop but profit margins are down

Brazilian Agriculture Minister Reinhold Stephanes anticipated a “record 2008/09 grain crop” close to 144.5 million tons which would mark a new record, and discarded that the global financial crisis would have an impact on agriculture on the short term.
Friday, October 10th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Teeming biodiversity in ocean volcanoes off SE Australia

CSIRO's Wealth from Oceans Flagship team has discovered hundreds of new marine species and dozens of undersea mountains, in a project to monitor the Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network off southern Tasmania.
Friday, October 10th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Falkland Islands: Weekly Penguin News update

Headlines: Party Conferences : PM Gordon Brown thanks Falklands for support; New airbridge in action; Tornado F3 flies south the easy way; Disappointed shearers return.
Friday, October 10th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Russian and eBay solutions for bankrupt Iceland

In a surprise move, which reverberated across the international community, Russia issued a four billion Euro state loan to Iceland. The statement on Russia's central bank website reads that the loan maturing in three-four years and an interest rate as low as 30-50 basis points above Libor has been given the green light by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Friday, October 10th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
“Narco-terrorists” in Peru kill 12 soldiers and 7 civilians

Shinning Path rebels ambushed a column of military trucks in the Peruvian south-eastern mountains with bombs and gunfire killing 12 soldiers and 7 civilians said Peru military high command. It's the deadliest rebel attack in years.
Friday, October 10th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Nobel Peace for “mediator” and sponsor of Kosovo

The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday the award of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2008 to former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.
Friday, October 10th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Flurry of meetings to calm markets and unfreeze credit

Finance ministers from leading industrialised nations have pledged action to tackle the financial crisis after a torrid week on stock markets. The G7 nations said they would take “decisive action and use all available tools”, after a meeting in Washington.

They issued a five-point plan aimed at unfreezing the flow of credit.
Friday, October 10th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
G-7: situation calls for “urgent and exceptional action”

The Group of Seven finance ministers and central governors released on Friday, following their meeting in Washington, the following plan of action to address financial disruptions