Stories for March 1st 2013

Friday, March 1st 2013 - 16:05 UTC
IAG insists Iberia “must adapt to survive”; forecasts profit this year

British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) has pledged to push through a plan to shrink Spanish arm Iberia by 15% and deliver a profit rebound this year following a group-wide loss last year.
Friday, March 1st 2013 - 14:21 UTC
Markets fear Argentina could be en route to a ‘technical’ default

“We are representing a government, and governments will not be told to do things that fundamentally violate their principles” lawyer Jonathan Blackman told the Manhattan US appeals court.
Friday, March 1st 2013 - 13:29 UTC
Euro-zone unemployment reaching 12%; Greece and Spain above 26%

Unemployment in the Euro zone reached a new high of 11.9% in January, as an additional 201,000 people joined the jobless ranks in the crisis-battered bloc, latest data showed Friday. The unemployment rate has been increasing relentlessly since the middle of 2011.
Friday, March 1st 2013 - 06:39 UTC
Be careful: Russia is back to stay in the Middle East

Russia is back. President Vladimir Putin wants the world to acknowledge that Russia remains a global power. He is making his stand in Syria. The Soviet Union acquired the Tartus Naval Port in Syria in 1971 without any real purpose for it. With their ships welcomed in Algeria, Cuba or Vietnam, Tartus was too insignificant to be developed. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia lacked the funds to spend on the base and no reason to invest in it.
Friday, March 1st 2013 - 02:08 UTC
Ban Ki-moon calls for a more inclusive dialogue on decolonization

With the world undergoing a “great transition,” it is time for a new kind of inclusive dialogue about decolonization, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, calling for fresh approaches to resolve the situations of the remaining 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Friday, March 1st 2013 - 02:01 UTC
Political challenges for the ambitious US-EU trade agreement to ensure Western preeminence

US-EU plans to join forces via a free-trade agreement are taking on shape. During his Berlin visit, US Secretary of State John Kerry described the planned pact as a priority for President Barack Obama's second term and marked out the agreement as a key element in cementing transatlantic ties.
Friday, March 1st 2013 - 00:17 UTC
Relations with Cristina Fernandez are “an impossible mission”, admits Mujica

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica admits that relations between Uruguay and Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez can be “an impossible mission”, but at the same time praised Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez “as the most generous head of state he has ever met”.
Friday, March 1st 2013 - 00:11 UTC
World's richest man says Argentina is great and predictable: “you can never get hold of dollars”

Mexico’s Carlos Slim, probably the world’s richest man according to Forbes has referred to Argentina with certain irony when he was asked about the current foreign currency restrictions and changing regulatory framework implemented by the government of President Cristina Fernandez.
Friday, March 1st 2013 - 00:07 UTC
Dengue: 200.000 cases confirmed in triple frontier: Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil

Paraguay, north Argentina and Brazil are in dengue alert following the confirmation of over 200.000 cases of the mosquito transmitted viral disease so far this year. The situation is considered worst that in previous years because besides a deep rise in the confirmed cases, the circulation of the four sero-types (strains) of dengue (1, 2, 3 and 4) has been detected, which means the disease keeps expanding.