Stories for December 2009

Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 14:12 UTC
Rio Tinto Alcan planning a 2.5 billion USD aluminium smelter in Paraguay

Rio Tinto Alcan, a unit of global mining giant Rio Tinto said on Monday it could invest up to 2.5 billion US dollars in a potential aluminium smelter in Paraguay. Rio Tinto Alcan said it had begun negotiations on a possible power purchase agreement for the potential smelter.
Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 14:07 UTC
S&P lowers Mexico’s foreign currency debt rating to BBB

Mexico’s credit rating was cut one level by Standard & Poor’s after tumbling oil output and the worst recession since the 1930s swelled the budget deficit.
Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 11:10 UTC
Argentina announces 6.5 billion USD guarantee fund for 2010 debt payments

Argentina will set aside 6.5 billion US dollars of its foreign currency reserves to ensure the country meets its 2010 debt payments, the government said on Monday. The move is seen as an attempt to lower costs for issuing new debt, ahead of a complicated year.
Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 10:58 UTC
US and Brazil agree on road map for Honduras national reconciliation

United States and Brazil agree ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya must have safe passage to leave Honduras and want the country's de facto president to step down to pave the way for national reconciliation, a senior Brazilian official said on Monday.
Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 10:56 UTC
Japan extends grant to Uruguay for solar power development

Japan is extending Uruguay a grant of 8.5 million US dollars to finance a solar power project, according to official Japanese sources. Japan’s Foreign Affairs minister Katsuya Okada and his Uruguayan counterpart Pedro Vaz signed the document Monday.
Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 10:21 UTC
Employment and industrial production in Euro-zone confirm shrinking tendency

Employment in the Euro-zone shrank during the third quarter and October industrial production also contracted 0.6% on a month-on-month basis, according to the latest release from Eurostat, the European Community Statistics Office.
Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 08:45 UTC
Brazil to name “Truth committee” to look into torture crimes under military rule

A quarter of a century after the return of democracy, the Brazilian government is seriously considering naming a “truth committee” to look into the torture crimes committed during the 21 year military dictatorship (1964/1985) and which were never taken to court.
Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 08:05 UTC
Exxon-Mobil buys Texas gas producer for 41 billion US dollars

US oil giant Exxon Mobil is buying natural gas producer XTO Energy in a deal worth 41 billion US dollars. XTO Energy, based in Texas, is an on-shore natural gas producer. The deal includes 10 billion of debt from XTO.
Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 07:58 UTC
Dengue “yellow alert” in north-east Argentina next to Paraguay

Argentine sanitary officials from the north-eastern province of Misiones declared a “yellow alert” following reports of several cases of the mosquito transmitted dengue disease in several locations of neighbouring Paraguay.
Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 07:57 UTC
Indigenous “medicinal plant” tourism a few miles from Punta Arenas

When most of us need digestive, analgesic, anti-inflammatory or antibiotic medicinal treatments, we walk down the street to the nearest pharmacy. When the indigenous Huilliche in the south of Chile need medicine, they stroll into the forest.