Stories for December 2010

Saturday, December 11th 2010 - 00:44 UTC
Glaciers in Chile and Argentina are melting at the fastest rate

Glaciers in Chile, Argentina and Alaska are melting at the fastest rate, according to a report compiled by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and presented this week at the UN climate change talks in Cancún, Mexico.
Saturday, December 11th 2010 - 00:34 UTC
Brazil’s Embraer moves into the defence and security industry

Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer on Friday unveiled a new subsidiary to focus solely on the defence and security industry, in a further move beyond from its core civil aviation business. The company said in a statement its new Embraer Defence and Security unit will be headed by Chief Financial Officer Luiz Carlos Aguiar.
Saturday, December 11th 2010 - 00:30 UTC
Barcelona signs £ 125 million commercial shirt-sponsorship deal with Qatar

One of Spain’s two most popular and successful football clubs, Barcelona has signed their first ever commercial shirt sponsorship deal after agreeing a record £125m contract with the Qatar Foundation.
Saturday, December 11th 2010 - 00:28 UTC
Chinese company takes over Occidental petroleum assets in Argentina

China Petrochemical Corp, parent of Sinopec Corp, agreed to buy all of US-based Occidental Petroleum Corp's oil and gas assets in Argentina for 2.45 billion US dollars, marking the energy giant's first foray into the upstream market in Argentina.
Friday, December 10th 2010 - 18:40 UTC
China posts record foreign trade in November, but fears of a “rough” 2011

Even when China's foreign trade hit a historic high in November, boosted by rising demand ahead of the Christmas shopping season, economists forecast a bumpy road next year.
Friday, December 10th 2010 - 18:32 UTC
IMF evaluates the spill-over impact of China’s growth for the rest of the world

Economic data suggest that a 1 percentage point increase in China’s growth rate sustained over five years means an extra 0.4 percentage point of growth for the rest of the world, two experts at the International Monetary Fund said after studying figures for the past two decades.
Friday, December 10th 2010 - 18:20 UTC
Chile begins construction of 1 MW solar energy plant to supply copper mine

Last December 2, a ceremonial first stone was laid to mark the start of construction of a photovoltaic solar plant near the northern Chilean city of Calama.
Friday, December 10th 2010 - 10:25 UTC
Falklands invites C-24 president to “balance” recent visit to Argentina

The Falkland Islands government has officially extended an invitation to the chairman of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization Ambassador (C 24), Donatus Keith St. Aimee to visit the South Atlantic Islands with the purpose of ‘balancing’ a recent similar invitation from Argentina and to defend the Falklands’ people right to exercise self-determination.
Friday, December 10th 2010 - 06:15 UTC
Russia’s Putin says Assange arrest shows the West has problems with democracy

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange shows the West has its own problems with democracy.
Friday, December 10th 2010 - 05:54 UTC
Lula da Silva supports Assange and asks what about freedom of expression?

Brazilian President Lula da Silva defended Julian Assange, founder of the WikiLeaks.org website that published more than 250,000 of U.S. diplomatic cables sent to or from embassies around the world and asked where are those rabid defenders of freedom of expression.