Stories for February 2011

Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 06:50 UTC
US Supreme Court rejects Argentine appeal to unfreeze assets held in trust

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Argentina's appeal in its long-running legal effort to unfreeze some assets held in trust since 2007, following on its roughly 100 billion US dollars debt default five years earlier.
Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 06:45 UTC
Fourth quarter unemployment in Argentina down to 7.3%, says Indec

Argentina's unemployment rate fell to 7.3% in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to a Tuesday release from the country’s national statistics institute, Indec. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner had announced the number informally in a speech last week.
Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 06:33 UTC
Brazil’s top private banker denies any risk of a credit bubble in the country

The president of Brazil’s private bank Itau brushed aside risks of a credit bubble in the country and underlined that sustained economic growth will be rewarded by an expansion of between 15% and 20% in its credit portfolios in 2011.
Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 06:32 UTC
Biotech crops keep advancing and currently cover over a billion hectares

The amount of land devoted to genetically engineered crops grew 10% last year, and 7% in the year before, as farmers in major grain and soy exporting countries such as Brazil and Argentina continued to adopt the new seeds.
Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 06:24 UTC
Ireland flatly opposes beef quotas in current EU/Mercosur trade talks

Beef quotas being sought by the Mercosur countries as part of the ongoing negotiations with the EU were “simply not acceptable”, said Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Brendan Smith.
Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 06:14 UTC
Refurbished HMS York scheduled to arrive in the Falklands mid March

The Royal Navy HMS York based in Portsmouth is on her way to the South Atlantic to conduct maritime security patrols. The refurbished Type 42 destroyer will spend the majority of the five-month deployment patrolling the British South Atlantic islands including the Falklands and South Georgia.
Tuesday, February 22nd 2011 - 14:44 UTC
NZ quake kills 65; 100 people trapped in the rubble; major glacier cracks

More than 100 people are believed to be trapped in rubble after a deadly 6.3-magnitude earthquake rocked the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch on Tuesday, killing at least 65 people.
Tuesday, February 22nd 2011 - 07:00 UTC
Malvinas basin oil exploration scheduled to begin first half of 2011

Repsol-YPF plans to start deepwater exploration off the coast of Tierra del Fuego in the Malvinas basin are expected to begin before the end of the first half of 2011, according to company’s sources.
Tuesday, February 22nd 2011 - 06:58 UTC
Pan American Energy, --partly Chinese owned--, keeps expanding in Argentina

Argentina's Pan American Energy will sign a deal later this month to buy Exxon Mobil local downstream unit Esso, turning the company into a fully integrated oil and gas producer. Pan American Energy is a unit of Bridas Corp., which is jointly owned by Argentina's Bulgheroni family through Bridas Energy Holdings and China's Cnooc Ltd.
Tuesday, February 22nd 2011 - 06:42 UTC
Argentina has ignored Mercosur rules and is now harvesting the benefits

Even when Uruguay and Brazil are in the course of reaching understandings with Argentina regarding the latest trade restrictions to be implemented by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner administration, ‘which are not targeted against Mercosur members’, the Brazilian press presents another angle.