Stories for April 2011

Monday, April 11th 2011 - 05:40 UTC
Guatemala’s First Couple ‘team’ ready for September’s presidential election

A Guatemalan judge granted the country’s First Couple divorce petition thus opening the way for First Lady Sandra Torres to run in September’s presidential election for which her husband President Alvaro Colom is barred under constitutional rule.
Monday, April 11th 2011 - 05:24 UTC
Protestors force Petrobras to suspend off shore seismic surveying in New Zealand

Brazilian oil giant Petrobras suspended an offshore survey Sunday in New Zealand after several environmental activists jumped into the water to block the passage of the ship conducting the study, reports the NZ press.
Monday, April 11th 2011 - 05:18 UTC
Santos and Chavez meet Lobo and agree on helping Honduras return to the OAS

The presidents of Colombia, Venezuela Juan Manuel Santos and Hugo Chavez held a non announced meeting with their Honduran peer Pofirio Lobo and said they were committed to help the outcast country rejoin the Latin American family by returning to the Organization of American States, OAS.
Monday, April 11th 2011 - 05:07 UTC
China posts surprise quarterly trade deficit of 1.02 billion USD, first in six years

China on Sunday reported a surprise quarterly trade deficit of 1.02 billion US dollars, the first in six years as it settles to rebalance its export oriented economy to boost domestic consumption in the next five years.
Monday, April 11th 2011 - 05:00 UTC
Peruvian presidential election has a winner, a run off date but no runner-up, yet

Former army officer and politically nationalist Ollanta Humala won the most votes in Peru’s presidential elections, though will need to wait for full results to know who he’ll face in a June runoff.
Saturday, April 9th 2011 - 07:56 UTC
Oil prices surge to a 2.5 year high on concerns about supply and the dollar

Oil prices have surged to a two-and-a-half-year high on concerns about supply and a weaker dollar. Brent crude topped $126, while US crude was at $112.79.
Saturday, April 9th 2011 - 07:55 UTC
US Congress reaches agreement on budget deal to fund government

United States congressional leaders have agreed on a budget deal to fund the US government for the rest of the fiscal year, just before a midnight deadline. It will reportedly cut 39 billion USD from the budget over last year's levels between now and 30 September.
Saturday, April 9th 2011 - 07:53 UTC
Syrian government kills 23 peaceful protestors on Muslim day of prayer

Protests erupted across much of the Arab world on the Muslim day of prayer, with demonstrators killed in Syria and Yemen while Egyptians staged one of the biggest rallies since President Hosni Mubarak's fall.
Saturday, April 9th 2011 - 00:21 UTC
Vazquez denies saying the Kirchners had behaviour patterns recalling fascism

Former Uruguayan president Tabaré Vázquez denied this week that he ever said that his Argentine counterparts Néstor and Cristina Kirchner are “fascists”, like Wikileaks cables stated.
Saturday, April 9th 2011 - 00:13 UTC
Puerto Williams poised to become Chile’s Antarctica travel hub

Chile and the world’s southernmost town, Puerto Williams, is to open up to mass tourism under a new investment program approved by the government.