Stories for June 11th 2010

Friday, June 11th 2010 - 23:23 UTC
Chilean Senators want International Whaling Commissioner ousted

Chilean senators Juan Pablo Letelier and Guido Girardi met this week with the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Fernando Schmidt, to plead the removal of Chilean Cristián Maquieira from his position as chairman of the International Whaling Commission.
Friday, June 11th 2010 - 23:20 UTC
Argentine industrial activity soared 13.1% in May and 11.8% in first four months

According to the Argentine Industrial Union, the manufacturing sector grew 13.1% in April in comparison with the same month of 2009, with the automotive and the iron and steel industries as key pillars.
Friday, June 11th 2010 - 23:16 UTC
Catholic Church expects more gestures from Raul Castro on political prisoners

Cuban Catholic church said this week that it expects the government of Raul Castro to make more gestures favouring political prisoners, although it added that in that “process” no fixed dates have been set for particular actions.
Friday, June 11th 2010 - 23:13 UTC
Hispanics become US largest minority: 15.8% of total population

The size of the United States Hispanic community grew by 3.1% in 2009 to 48.4 million people, or 15.8% of the total population, the largest minority in a country that is ever more diverse, the Census Bureau said Thursday.
Friday, June 11th 2010 - 23:10 UTC
Spanish group Viajes Marsans (former owners of Aerolineas Argentinas) sold

Spanish travel company Viajes Marsans S.A., the parent company of bankrupt airline Air Comet, has been sold to Posibilitum Business for 600 million euros (720 million USD), the parties to the deal said this week.
Friday, June 11th 2010 - 23:08 UTC
Buenos Aires City Mayor fined for riding a motorcycle without a helmet

Buenos Aires City Traffic Safety Committee confirmed that City Mayor Mauricio Macri has been fined for having ridden on a motorcycle without a helmet.
Friday, June 11th 2010 - 20:55 UTC
Positive outlook for the Argentine economy according to international bank

Argentine stocks are poised to a boost from a likely decline in the nation’s credit risk by year-end and the presidential elections in 2011, according to analysts from Spain’s Banco Santander, one of the leading financial institutions in Latinamerica.
Friday, June 11th 2010 - 20:53 UTC
Piñera announces huge investments in the state-run copper industry

Chilean President Sebastián Piñera has announced plans to invest 15 billion US dollars in Codelco, the state-owned copper company. Speaking to an audience of workers, managers and executives at a mine in Calama earlier this week, Piñera said the investment would bring about “a renaissance and a new youth to Codelco”.
Friday, June 11th 2010 - 20:50 UTC
Japan in “risk of collapse” under huge debt mountain says new PM

Japan is at “risk of collapse” under its huge debt mountain, the country's new prime minister has said. Naoto Kan, in his first major speech since taking over, said Japan needed a financial restructuring to avert a Greece-style crisis.
Friday, June 11th 2010 - 17:13 UTC
Paraguay admits pressure from Brazil to vote for Venezuela’s Mercosur incorporation

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo admitted he called on Congress to reach a consensus to vote the incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur, since Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have already done so and ‘only Paraguay is missing’.