Stories for December 29th 2011

Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 23:29 UTC
Venezuela has highest murder rate of South America, worse than Colombia

President Hugo Chavez Venezuela is on track to set a new record for murders and to remain South America's most violent country, according to data released by a crime watchdog. The Venezuela Violence Monitor (OVV) said this week that 19 336 people had been murdered in 2011, an average of 53 per day in a country of 29 million.
Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 23:20 UTC
Boosted by Brazilians, Chilean received 3 million tourists in 2011, up 11%

Over three million tourists arrived this year to Chile, an 11% increase over 2010. The number also represents a trebling of foreign tourists in the last two decades, according to Tourism Under Secretary Jacqueline Plass.
Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 23:12 UTC
Tourists evacuated from Torres del Paine park threatened by forest fire

Twenty tourists had to be evacuated from the Torres del Paine national park in Chilean Patagonia following the outbreak of a forest fire that has extended to over twenty hectares because of strong winds and difficult access for fire-fighters, reports the local press.
Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 22:59 UTC
Turkish economist named World Bank new Vice-President for Latin America

Hasan Tuluy, a Turkish national and a strong supporter of inclusive growth, will become the new World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) as of January 1st, 2012. Mr. Tuluy will oversee the Bank’s lending, knowledge, and poverty-fighting operations in the region, which totalled 9.6 billion dollars in fiscal year 2011.
Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 22:54 UTC
Havana preparing grand ‘brainwashing’ to change the mentality of Cubans

The Cuban regime and the ruling Communist Party are preparing a grand-national conference to try and change the “mentality” of Cubans so that the capitalist-oriented economic reforms and timid political changes sponsored by President Raul Castro are better understood and accepted, according to party sources.
Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 22:48 UTC
The Iron Lady opens Friday in the US, “a Shakespearean story about power and loss”

Making a film about an iconic politician like Britain's Margaret Thatcher is akin to walking into a movie minefield, and casting an American -- even one as revered as Meryl Streep -- is asking for more trouble.
Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 22:07 UTC
Scientists establish critical benchmark link for seabirds and available food

An international group of scientists has shown that many seabirds begin to suffer when the food available for them in the ocean declines below a critical level. This level is about one-third of the maximum measured amount of food available. They have found that this critical level is about the same for seabird species around the world. Their study — the most comprehensive ever undertaken — covers birds from the Arctic to the Antarctic and from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 21:58 UTC
Majority of Conservatives (54%) believe UK should leaver the EU, shows poll

A majority of the ruling Conservative Party members believe Britain should leave the European Union, according to an opinion poll. A survey of party members by the ConservativeHome website for The Independent found 54% would favour ending Britain’s EU membership and signing up to a free-trade agreement
Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 21:50 UTC
Dilma in her first year is proving to be an Iron Lady loved by the middle class

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff will be celebrating on Sunday her first of four years in office with a record public opinion support of 72%, based on a sober and firm style in running what has become the world’s sixth largest economy.
Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 21:44 UTC
Iran’s Ahmadinejad will visit four Latinamerican countries next January

The Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadinejad will be travelling to Latinamerica in the second week of January 2012 to visit Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador, announced the Teheran presidential office, according to a report from the official news agency FNA.