Stories for December 12th 2012

Wednesday, December 12th 2012 - 21:13 UTC
HSBC fined 1.9bn for money laundering for drug barons and rogue nations

The US said “dangerous practices” at HSBC allowed the bank to pass money to “drug kingpins and rogue nations”, as it fined it 1.9 billion dollars. HSBC agreed the fine, the largest of its kind, earlier on Tuesday.
Wednesday, December 12th 2012 - 20:49 UTC
HMS Protector inspecting Antarctic Treaty sites; first visit to Brazil’s Comandante Ferraz station

Royal Navy Ice patrol HMS Protector has arrived in Antarctica for the first time this season after her long sail south from Portsmouth. She will spend this, the first of her four work periods in the ice this Austral Summer, supporting an international team conducting formal Antarctic Treaty inspections of sites across the Peninsula.
Wednesday, December 12th 2012 - 20:43 UTC
Chavez’ condition delicate after surgery, reveals Maduro and calls for unity in prayers

Despite earlier reports, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is in delicate condition after his latest surgery for cancer, the government said on Wednesday.
Wednesday, December 12th 2012 - 20:35 UTC
“Soft” dollar until US unemployment rate falls below 6.5% says Fed

The US Federal Reserve has said it plans to keep interest rates at close to zero at least until the US unemployment rate falls below 6.5%. The Fed previously had a date-driven target, rather than a data-driven one.
Wednesday, December 12th 2012 - 19:34 UTC
Uruguay’s fiscal and salaries policies out of control plus heterodox ‘solutions’ rumours

Uruguay has “politicized the management of its economy” with the government letting the “trade unions and its political allies” master the country’s budget and the salaries policy, claimed Ernesto Talvi a conservative economist from the local think-tank CERES who is also a World Bank consultant.
Wednesday, December 12th 2012 - 18:40 UTC
Uruguay legalizes same sex marriage and rights by overwhelming majority

Uruguay’s Lower House voted 81 in 87 to legalize same sex marriage on Wednesday, approving a single law for both heterosexuals and homosexuals regulating all kinds of family issues, from divorce to adoption to in-vitro fertilization and how parents can name their children.
Wednesday, December 12th 2012 - 18:21 UTC
Falklands’ referendum results will be public and presented to United Nations

The issue of the political status of the self-governed British overseas territory Falkland Islands has dominated (non-relations) and relations since the British and Argentine war in 1982 after the Argentine military government invaded the Islands, writes Alicia Dunkley-Willis from the Jamaica Observer who recently visited the Falklands.
Wednesday, December 12th 2012 - 18:09 UTC
Oil company begins 3D seismic surveying to the south of the Falkland Islands

Falkland Oil and Gas Limited oil and gas exploration company has commenced an important 3D seismic survey operation in the south of the Falkland Islands, where the company has extensive licence areas.
Wednesday, December 12th 2012 - 08:12 UTC
Latam poised for stronger growth in 2013 pushed by Brazil and Argentina

Latin America and the Caribbean will experience stronger economic growth, despite ongoing uncertainties at international level (particularly difficulties faced by Europe, the United States and China), according to new estimates released Tuesday in Santiago de Chile, by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Wednesday, December 12th 2012 - 08:05 UTC
Falklands’ dispute triggers concern among Argentine tourism operators after two cruises omit Ushuaia

Ushuaia tourism operators expressed concern and called for common sense to prevail after two major cruises finally decided this week not to call at in Argentine Tierra del Fuego after local authorities could not guarantee that the visiting vessels would not be exposed to the same intimidation tactics and delays experienced recently in Buenos Aires and earlier this year in the extreme south terminal because they include the Falkland Islands in their itineraries.