Stories for May 2011

Tuesday, May 17th 2011 - 01:05 UTC
“Heaven is a fairy story, there is no afterlife” says eminent Stephen Hawking

Heaven is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark, the eminent British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking said in an interview. Hawking, 69, was expected to die within a few years of being diagnosed with degenerative motor neurone disease at the age of 21, but became one of the world's most famous scientists with the publication of his 1988 book “A Brief History of Time”.
Tuesday, May 17th 2011 - 00:56 UTC
Support for Uruguay president drops to 41%, down from 75% when taking office

Support for Uruguayan president Jose Mujica dropped to 41%, nine percentage points less than last March and 34 points down from when he took office in March 2010, according to an Interconsult public opinion poll published Monday in one of Montevideo’s dailies.
Tuesday, May 17th 2011 - 00:53 UTC
South Korea and Brazilian lawmakers committed to expand links with Mercosur

Parliamentary leaders of South Korea and Brazil agreed Monday in Seoul to put forth efforts to promote economic ties between the two nations in the framework of Mercosur, through closer interactions at the parliamentary level.
Tuesday, May 17th 2011 - 00:44 UTC
Euro aid package for Portugal approved but private bond holders also involved

Euro zone finance ministers approved Monday a three-year, 78-billion Euro emergency loan program for Portugal and said Lisbon would ask private bondholders to maintain their exposure to its debt.
Tuesday, May 17th 2011 - 00:38 UTC
Overwhelming majority of Chileans reject hydroelectric project in Patagonia

Opposition to the HydroAysén dam and power line project grew throughout Chile this past week in the wake of massive demonstrations protesting the project’s approval on Monday May 9 in southern Chile.
Tuesday, May 17th 2011 - 00:30 UTC
Food inflation in Latam eased during the first quarter, says FAO

Food inflation in Latin America and the Caribbean decreased to 1.9% during the first quarter of this year according to a report from the regional office from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, released Monday.
Monday, May 16th 2011 - 20:33 UTC
IMF chief denied bail remains in custody in New York

IMF Dominique Straus-Kahn, accused of attempting to rape a hotel housekeeper, was ordered held without bail by a New York judge after prosecutors argued he presented a flight risk.
Monday, May 16th 2011 - 17:51 UTC
Argentine court rules prescription of abuses and tortures against Malvinas conscripts

The cases of abuse, ill treatment, torture and alleged homicides committed against Argentines conscripts by their officers, some of them still on active service, during the 1982 Malvinas war were declared prescribed.
Monday, May 16th 2011 - 16:04 UTC
Plastic made HMS Ramsey mine-hunter heads for the Middle East

A Royal Navy warship that was made from plastic rather than metal to avoid triggering mines was due to set sail to the Gulf from its base at Faslane. HMS Ramsey was made from glass-reinforced plastic so can get near mines where other Navy ships cannot.
Monday, May 16th 2011 - 15:51 UTC
Brazil justifies import licences for the auto sector, and insists they are not targeted on Argentina

Brazilian Development, Industry and Foreign Trade minister Fernando Pimentel justified trade barriers imposed last week on the import of cars, a measure which was strongly criticized by the Argentine government.