Stories for February 21st 2013

Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 05:46 UTC
Royal penguin being cared in New Zealand after stranding 2.000km from Antarctica

A royal penguin is being cared for at a New Zealand zoo after being found stranded on a beach 2,000km from its Antarctic home. The young male bird, which was dehydrated and starving, is thought to be only the fourth royal penguin to wash up there in more than a century.
Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 05:27 UTC
Mercosur begins technical meetings for new proposals on trade accord with EU

Mercosur will retake next March technical discussions for a new proposal to be presented to the European Union for a trade and cooperation agreement, announced Argentine Foreign minister Hector Timerman next to his peer Antonio Patriota following bilateral talks on Wednesday in Rio do Janeiro.
Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 04:45 UTC
Brazilian soybean farmers oppose contract with Monsanto to end royalties’ dispute

Brazilian farmer groups are opposing a contract that Monsanto the world’s biggest seed company is offering farmers to end a dispute over royalty payments on its genetically modified soybean seeds. Monsanto is trying to resolve uncertainty over its ability to collect fees on its new Intacta soybeans, which it is scheduled to start selling in Brazil during the next growing season.
Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 04:43 UTC
Unasur, invited by electoral officials will observe the April 21 election in Paraguay

Paraguay’s Superior Electoral Tribunal, TSJE said on Wednesday that representatives from Unasur, Union of South American Nations, would be present as observers of the electoral process scheduled for next April. The accord was signed by TSJE president Alberto Ramirez Zamonini and the head of Unasur High Level Group, Salomon Lerner.
Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 04:41 UTC
Correa hopeful Paraguayan elections will be “transparent and democratic”

Re-elected Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa is hopeful “transparent and democratic” elections will be held in Paraguay next April, a country with which he is waiting to normalize relations.
Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 04:39 UTC
Latinamerica’s achievements and challenges exposed in London before LSE

The achievements of democracy in Latin America, while simultaneously warning of the challenges that remain and that must be addressed in order to avoid stagnation in the current political process the region has been following in recent years, was highlighted by OAS chief in an address to the London School of Economics, LSE.
Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 01:47 UTC
Nationalized airport operators demand 90 million dollars from Bolivia

The Spanish infrastructure company Abertis said it was seeking 90 million dollars from Bolivia in compensation for the nationalization of its subsidiary Servicios de Aeropuertos Bolivianos (Sabsa). Abertis was also considering other possible legal claims, its chief executive Francisco Reynes said.
Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 01:44 UTC
Rousseff says end of poverty is close; 48 million Brazilians registered in social support programs

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff raised the monthly stipend of 2.5 million people living below the poverty line to make good on her promise to eradicate extreme poverty in Brazil. Even when announcing she has almost met her anti-poverty target halfway through her four-year term, Brazil’s last census points to 700,000 families who still live in extreme poverty but are not registered on government social programs.
Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 01:40 UTC
FIFA committed to goal-line technology at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil

FIFA said it is committed to using goal-line technology at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and could have four systems competing for selection. FIFA said it is now seeking tenders from companies which want their system to be used at the Confederations Cup in June and next year’s World Cup.
Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 01:37 UTC
Japan posts huge January trade deficit: weak Yen, energy bill and dispute with China blamed

Japan’s trade deficit soared to a record 17.4 billion dollars on energy imports, a weaker Yen and the territorial dispute with China, the country’s main trade partner. Exports climbed 6.4% in January from a year earlier, the first rise in eight months while imports increased 7.3%, the Finance Ministry said in Tokyo.