Stories for December 16th 2011

Friday, December 16th 2011 - 20:21 UTC
“We are in a war of attrition…and we can’t let Argentina win”, says Falklands MLA

The Falkland Islands are effectively “under a sea-blockade from Argentina” and after years of quiet diplomacy behind the scenes “we are now in a war of attrition and we need to take the war to the enemy” according to Dr Barry Elsby who on Thursday was elected to fill the vacant seat at the Falkland Islands eight member Legislative Assembly.
Friday, December 16th 2011 - 19:04 UTC
UK discussing with Uruguay officials docking ban for Falklands flagged vessels

The British Embassy in Montevideo is discussing with Uruguayan authorities the implications of President Jose Mujica public statement that Falklands/Malvinas flagged vessels “are banned from docking in the port of Montevideo”.
Friday, December 16th 2011 - 06:42 UTC
Mujica denies Argentine pressure, but confirms Falklands flagged vessels are banned

Uruguayan President José ‘Pepe’ Mujica denied on Thursday afternoon suffering pressure from the Argentine government to restrict British ships from docking at Montevideo’s ports.
Friday, December 16th 2011 - 06:38 UTC
WTO deal on government buying, opens 100bn dollars of government contracts

The World Trade Organization reached on Thursday a landmark reform on its Government Procurement Agreement, opening 100 billion dollars of government contracts to foreign competition and paving the way for more countries, including China, to join the pact.
Friday, December 16th 2011 - 06:35 UTC
IMF warns no economy in the world will be immune to the crisis unfolding

The world economic outlook is “quite gloomy” and will require action by all countries, starting with those in Europe, to head off an escalating crisis that carries risks of a global depression, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.
Friday, December 16th 2011 - 06:32 UTC
Fitch downgrades the credit rating of the world’s six largest banks

Fitch announced on Thursday it has downgraded the credit rating of six of the world’s largest banks. The banks include US’ Bank of America, British Barclays, and France’s BNP Paribas.
Friday, December 16th 2011 - 06:30 UTC
FDI in Brazil jumped four times since 2005 totalling 661bn; US main investor

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Brazil expanded fourfold between 2005 and last year, from 162.8 billion to 660.5 billion dollars, the country’s central bank said on Thursday.
Friday, December 16th 2011 - 06:26 UTC
Disclosed documents reveal Brazilian strong support for the Pinochet regime in Chile

Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo published a report on this week revealing a series of 266 telegrams from the Brazilian embassy in Santiago that unveiled strong economic and diplomatic ties between the nations’ military regimes in the early 1970s.
Friday, December 16th 2011 - 06:23 UTC
French PM from Brazil admits new “jolts” can be expected in the Euro zone

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said his country is likely to face new “jolts” from the Euro zone debt crisis amid rumors it could lose its triple-A credit rating.
Friday, December 16th 2011 - 06:16 UTC
Brazil joins the club of countries with strict no smoking legislation

President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday signed a law banning smoking in all enclosed public spaces in Brazil. The new text will make Brazil, which has a population of more than 191 million, the largest country in the world to go smoke-free.