Stories for May 2011

Wednesday, May 11th 2011 - 07:39 UTC
Apple the most valuable brand in the world ends Google’s four year reign

Registering a staggering 84% increase in value over the past year, Apple has emerged as the most valuable brand in the world, ending the four-year reign of Google at the top of the table in the sixth annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study.
Wednesday, May 11th 2011 - 07:36 UTC
Obama impassionate call for immigration reform next to US/Mexico border

President Barack Obama issued an impassioned call for immigration reform in a speech at the US-Mexican border on Tuesday, sending a message to Hispanics whose votes he needs to win re-election next year.
Wednesday, May 11th 2011 - 03:27 UTC
Instead of pressing for re-election why don’t you press to solve conflicts peacefully?

Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner said on Tuesday that “instead of so many people supporting me for re-election” she prefers cooperation so conflicts and disputes can be solved without applying the sort of pressure that only makes matters worse.
Wednesday, May 11th 2011 - 01:37 UTC
“Shape up or ship out”, Cuban communist party tells unprofitable companies

Cuban government companies and cooperatives repeatedly “inefficient” (non profitable) will be handed to the private sector or liquidated, according to the reforms program approved by the island’s VI Communist Party congress and which was officially published Monday.
Wednesday, May 11th 2011 - 01:34 UTC
Fearing US reaction, Cuba makes public full-scale offshore oil exploration plans

Cuba hopes to counter US worries over its plans to start its first full-scale offshore oil exploration in a rare presentation this week to an energy audience outside the island.
Wednesday, May 11th 2011 - 01:30 UTC
Brazil expects a new record crop totalling 158.7 million tons

Brazil will harvest this year a record crop of 158.7 million tons, 6% higher than last year’s 149.7 million tons, according to the latest release from the country’s Geography and Statistics Institute, IBGE.
Wednesday, May 11th 2011 - 01:25 UTC
Unasur to achieve a “South American continent united and in peace by 2020”

Unasur new Secretary General, former Colombian Foreign Affairs minister Maria Emma Mejía is convinced that South America will be a united continent and in peace, in ten years time.
Tuesday, May 10th 2011 - 22:45 UTC
Good soybean crop prospects in Brazil and Argentina, could total 123 million tons

Soybean crop prospects in Brazil and Argentina, the second- and third-biggest exporters of the oilseed behind the U.S., have improved, researcher Oil World said in a report Tuesday. Growers in Brazil will produce 73 million metric tons of soybeans, up from a record 68.7 million tons a year ago, and farmers in Argentina will harvest 49.5 million tons, up 1% from a prior estimate.
Tuesday, May 10th 2011 - 22:38 UTC
YPF makes large shale oil discovery, equivalent to 6% of Argentina’s reserves

Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced on Tuesday that YPF energy company had made a large shale oil discovery in Neuquén province, a find that she considered to be of extreme importance, since “it will allow for us to maintain and further promote development” throughout the country.
Tuesday, May 10th 2011 - 21:27 UTC
Beijing promises a more flexible Yuan exchange rate, says US Treasury

China assured the United States that it will continue moving toward a more flexible Yuan exchange rate, a US Treasury official said on Tuesday. The announcement came as the Central bank set the Yuan reference rate at the strongest level since 2005.