Stories for March 2010

Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 11:46 UTC
Standard Chartered record profits; criticizes regulation proposals

Standard Chartered has reported record profits in 2009 and criticised some recent proposals to regulate banks. Pre-tax profits were 5.15 billion USD (£3.4bn), up 13% from 2008. Total pay and bonuses rose 4% to 4.91 billion USD.
Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 04:46 UTC
Insulza bids for a second OAS term; US and Venezuela are not convinced

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, on Wednesday presented his candidacy for re-election in a speech before the Permanent Council in which he offered to continue to be a “partner” in the use of a “modern multilateralism to apply our common agenda, as ambitious as it may be, for the benefit of the people of the Americas.”
Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 04:31 UTC
Santiago airport reopens domestic terminal and activity should reach 50%

Passenger traffic at Santiago de Chile’s main airport should reach 50% of normal activity on Thursday following the increase in commercial airlines flight numbers and the reopening of the domestic air terminal, reports the Chilean Civil Aeronautic Agency.
Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 04:21 UTC
Brazil tells Washington “not to push Iran into a corner”

Brazil and the US could not agree Wednesday over how to rein in Tehran's suspect nuclear ambitions and Brazilian President Lula da Silva warned the world not to “push Iran into a corner.”
Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 04:19 UTC
Europe welcomes Greek austerity plan, but Athens demands “solidarity”

Europe has welcomed a 6.6 billion US dollars Greek austerity plan of pension freezes and tax hikes as the country mounts a frantic bid to cut its budget deficit. Hundreds of pensioners hit the streets after Prime Minister George Papandreou revealed the hit to public and private sector retirement plans.
Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 04:13 UTC
Giant waves ram cruise in Mediterranean killing two

Two people have been killed and six injured as giant waves slammed into a cruise ship in the Mediterranean, the ship's owners have said. The 8 metres high rogue waves hit the Cypriot-owned Louis Majesty off the north-east coast of Spain.
Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 04:10 UTC
Spain: no end in sight for the ranks of unemployed

The ranks of Spain’s unemployed increased by 2.03% in February compared with January, bringing the jobless total to more than 4.13 million, the Labour and Immigration Ministry said Tuesday. The figure is the highest since 1996.
Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 03:35 UTC
Argentine opposition has majority control of both Congress houses

Argentina’s opposition senators on Wednesday won majority control of all the chamber’s committees, undermining President Cristina Fernandez’s de Kirchner’s ability to pass legislation more than two years after she took office.
Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 03:34 UTC
Spanish opposition reacts to Ban Ki-moon’s approach to decolonization process

Spanish opposition Popular Party MP José Ignacio Landaluce said this week that the only option for the decolonisation of Gibraltar was its return to Spain. He was reacting to comments made by the United Nations’ Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who has called for a “pragmatic and realistic” approach to the decolonisation process.
Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 03:28 UTC
China lowers lending target; exporters demand “stable” Yuan

Bank of China will maintain a reasonable pace of lending this year, Li Lihui, the president of the country's fourth-largest lender by assets said on Wednesday.