Stories for March 2010

Monday, March 15th 2010 - 13:46 UTC
Blackout Hits Most Of Chile

Transformer failure blamed as much of the country goes dark.
A blackout blamed on a fault in Chile's Central Interconnected System hit nearly all of Chile around 8:50 p.m. local time Sunday night.
Monday, March 15th 2010 - 11:16 UTC
Chinese oil firm buying 50% stake in Argentine group

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is paying $3.1bn (£2bn) for a 50% stake in Argentine oil and gas group Bridas Corporation. Cnooc Ltd.,
Saturday, March 13th 2010 - 02:55 UTC
Cuban political prisoners’ controversy backfires on Lula da Silva

One of the most influential Senators from Brazil’s ruling Workers Party remembered President Lula da Silva that world figures such as India’s Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King appealed to hunger strikes as part of their peaceful struggle for the rights of their peoples.
Saturday, March 13th 2010 - 02:32 UTC
Lehman Brothers had been using “accounting gimmicks” for years

Former bosses at Lehman Brothers have been accused of using an “accounting gimmick” to hide billions in losses which helped bring about its collapse. The technique, called “Repo 105”, was used to temporarily remove 50 billion US dollars of assets from the US investment bank's balance sheet in 2008, according to a one-year investigation.
Saturday, March 13th 2010 - 02:23 UTC
China calls on US not to make the Yuan de facto dollar peg “a political issue”

The United States should not make a political issue out of the Yuan, a Chinese central banker said as the long running friction between the world’s two leading economies approaches a critical deadline.
Saturday, March 13th 2010 - 01:56 UTC
Google will “pay the consequences” if it does not comply with China’s filtering

China's top internet official has warned that Google will “pay the consequences” if it continues to go against Chinese law. Google announced in January that it would no longer comply with China's internet censorship laws.
Saturday, March 13th 2010 - 01:04 UTC
US military have no evidence of Venezuela, FARC and ETA links

The chief of the US military's Southern Command, General Douglas Fraser, said during a hearing before the US Senate that he had no evidence of links between Venezuela, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a Colombian guerrilla group and the Basque separatist group ETA.
Saturday, March 13th 2010 - 01:02 UTC
Falklands’ economy poised to expand 5.3% following a contraction in 2009

The Falkland Islands economy is expected to expand by 5.3% in real terms during 2010, following a period of contraction in 2009, which was caused primarily by a poor fish harvest rather than the immediate effects of the global recession, according to the Economic Briefing & Forecast released by the Falklands’ government.
Saturday, March 13th 2010 - 00:57 UTC
Colombia’s congressional election Sunday, a test for May’s presidential vote

Colombian congressional elections this weekend may signal how much backing former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos will have as he seeks to capitalize on the success of Alvaro Uribe’s “democratic security” politics to succeed him as president.
Saturday, March 13th 2010 - 00:55 UTC
To be a good journalist, first you must be a good Marxist, says Beijing

Chinese journalist must take tests on Marxist theory and the Chinese Communist Party is the last of Beijing’s drive to improve standards and ensure closer adherence to government media policies, reports said this week.