Stories for July 29th 2011

Friday, July 29th 2011 - 18:56 UTC
Rio-Paris flight crash report opens legal battle between Airbus and Air France

French investigators said on Friday that the crew of Air France's Rio-Paris flight which crashed into the Atlantic two years ago ignored repeated stall warnings and failed to follow textbook procedures.
Friday, July 29th 2011 - 18:50 UTC
Rodriguez Zapatero calls early election; Spanish opposition leads opinion polls

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced Friday an early general election in November, four months early than scheduled, looking to capitalize on a slight upturn in opinion poll ratings.
Friday, July 29th 2011 - 18:46 UTC
Spain regional governments’ debts out of control; Moody’s downgrade warning

Credit rating agency Moody's, on Friday, put Spain on review for a possible downgrade, adding to concerns that a Greek rescue package has done little to halt the spread of Europe's debt crisis.
Friday, July 29th 2011 - 10:35 UTC
Brazil begins exporting rice to South Africa, competing with Thailand

Brazil has begun shipping rice to South Africa, competing with Thailand, the largest source of the grain for Africa’s largest economy. A shipment of rice from Brazil’s Santa Catarina state left Santos bound for South Africa this week.
Friday, July 29th 2011 - 07:25 UTC
One officer and 3 civilians killed during eviction of a landsite in north Argentina

A shootout between police and civilians in Argentina’s northern province of Jujuy left one officer and four protesters dead plus more than 30 injured, after clashes occurred during the eviction of more than four hundred families from a land site.
Friday, July 29th 2011 - 07:21 UTC
“Deep changes since 2006” should pave the way for Venezuela’s return to CAN

The Venezuelan-Colombian Chamber for Economic Integration (Cavecol) has formally requested national authorities that Venezuela re-joins the Andean Community of Nations, CAN, from which it pulled out three months ago following the original decision dating back to 2006.
Friday, July 29th 2011 - 07:17 UTC
Bank of Nova Scotia drops legal actions against Argentina for 600m dollars

Argentina’s central bank said the Bank of Nova Scotia dropped legal actions against the country under which it sought 600 million dollars.
Friday, July 29th 2011 - 07:08 UTC
Repsol-YPF earnings hit by civil war in Libya and labour strikes in Argentina

Repsol-YPF, Spain’s largest oil company, said second-quarter earnings fell 7.3% after refining margins narrowed and output declined because of the civil war in Libya and strikes in Argentina.
Friday, July 29th 2011 - 07:02 UTC
Latam and Caribbean hold 727bn dollars in US government debt assets

The UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC, expressed public concern about the ongoing discussions between the White House and Congress regarding the governments’ borrowing limit and the August 2 deadline to reach an agreement.
Friday, July 29th 2011 - 06:47 UTC
Peruvian president Humala promises economic growth with social inclusion

Peru's incoming President Ollanta Humala promised on Thursday the poor would take part in the country's economic boom, investors and their contracts would be respected and changes will be moderate and gradual.