Stories for March 5th 2012

Monday, March 5th 2012 - 19:09 UTC
Taiwan reluctantly accepts US beef imports with “safe level” of ractopamine

The Taiwanese Executive was leaning toward conditionally lifting a ban on the import of US beef that has been grown with a leanness-enhancing drug banned in Taiwan, the government said Monday.
Monday, March 5th 2012 - 19:03 UTC
HMS Protector returns to spot in Antarctica where Shackleton saved his men

Sailors from HMS Protector have returned to the exact spot where polar explorer Ernest Shackleton saved his men nearly 100 years ago. A team form the ice survey ship carried out scientific research at Point Wild on Elephant Island - a remote and forbidding shore where Shackleton expedition party spent months awaiting rescue in 1916.
Monday, March 5th 2012 - 06:10 UTC
Mercosur countries to agree on a common protocol for vessels from the Falklands

Mercosur country members are scheduled to hold a meeting in Rio do Janeiro to agree on a common protocol for all vessels originating in the Falkland Islands and calling at regional ports, announced Uruguay’s Defence minister Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro.
Monday, March 5th 2012 - 06:04 UTC
Change in Argentine policy is “an attempt to collect support and look less mean”

The apparent change in Argentine policy towards the Falkland Islands by offering three direct flights to the Islands from Buenos Aires instead of cutting the air link with Chile, as had been anticipated, was described by Chilean diplomatic sources as “an attempt to collect international support and look less mean”.
Monday, March 5th 2012 - 06:00 UTC
Falklands’ case triggers controversy in St Vincent and Grenadines

The Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves said that he does not regard himself as a “water carrier” or the “president of a fitness club”, as he defended his decision not to meet with two legislators from a “colonial country assembly” in reference to the Falkland Islands.
Monday, March 5th 2012 - 05:56 UTC
Inter American bank does not trust Argentine official stats, uses private estimates

Argentina must solve the controversy over the measurement of inflation which has significant economic and political costs, said Eugenio Diaz-Bonilla the Inter American Development Bank, IADB, director for Argentina and Haiti.
Monday, March 5th 2012 - 05:50 UTC
Uruguayan economy forecasted to expand 4% to 4.5%; inflation main challenge

Uruguay's economy is poised to expand 4% to 4.5% this year, a moderate slowdown from the growth of just over 6% seen in 2011, the president of the central bank Mario Bergara told reporters during an IMF conference held in Punta del Este.
Monday, March 5th 2012 - 05:38 UTC
Daily Telegraph readers’ poll says Falklands ‘should be returned’ to Argentina

According to an ongoing opinion poll among readers of The Telegraph on line, over 55% believe the Falklands/Malvinas should be returned to Argentina, and an estimated 14% say the Islanders should hold a referendum to decide.
Monday, March 5th 2012 - 05:34 UTC
Putin declares victory; opposition claim fraud, protests scheduled for Monday

Vladimir Putin has declared victory in Russia's presidential elections, returning for a third term after spending the last four years as the country's PM. Exit polls and preliminary results gave him about 60% of the vote.
Monday, March 5th 2012 - 05:32 UTC
Chavez proclaims “I will overcome”, admits radiation treatment for cancer

President Hugo Chavez said he will need radiation treatment for cancer in the run-up to Venezuela's October presidential poll though he insisted there was no metastasis after the removal of another tumour.