Stories for September 15th 2013

Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 20:22 UTC
Brazil forecasted to become the leading country in soybean production

Brazil is to top the world soybean production league for the first time, thanks to the incentive to farmers provided from resilient prices and a weak Real, overtaking the US, whose hopes have been dented by drought.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 20:18 UTC
Summers pulls out of the race to succeed Bernanke at the Federal Reserve

Lawrence “Larry” Summers, the former Treasury Secretary who served Presidents Clinton and Obama, called President Barack Obama on Sunday to say he is pulling out of the race to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 20:16 UTC
Pope’s meets with the father of liberation theology; Vatican media praises the Peruvian priest

Pope Francis' September 11 meeting with Dominican Father Gustavo Gutierrez was an informal one, held in the in the pope's residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, and not listed on his official schedule., reports the Catholic News Service. However the news that Pope Francis had received the 85-year old Peruvian priest, who is widely considered the father of liberation theology, has excited interest far beyond the Vatican's walls.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 19:22 UTC
The hurdles faced by Bachelet to achieve her promise of reforming Chilean education

Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet legacy lives heavily in a country which has had a spectacular economic performance since the return of democracy, but remains lame in several social and political issues.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 19:18 UTC
RFA Wave Knight in major seizure of drugs in the Caribbean

Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ship Wave Knight has helped seize an estimated £6.5 million worth of drugs from traffickers in the Caribbean. In a multi-agency operation involving UK and US assets, the fishing vessel Miss Tiffany was detected and one of Wave Knight’s boats was launched to investigate.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 19:15 UTC
Latam’s cash transfer programs have proven more effective in combating poverty

Latin America’s cash transfer programs are a more effective weapon against poverty and social inequality than economic growth alone, according to a study by two local economists.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 18:37 UTC
OAS chief and Pope Francis talk drugs, Chile’s coup and Latam’s coming challenges

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, was received in a private audience by Pope Francis in Vatican City and by the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, in the framework of a visit to Rome at the invitation of the Italianaeuropei to give a lecture during the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the military coup in Chile.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 18:17 UTC
Brazil and Argentina to coordinate cyber defense to address espionage challenge

Argentine Defence Minister Agustín Rossi and his Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim issued a joint statement with cyber-defence taking the centre stage of the bilateral agenda, during the official ceremony at the Libertador building, seat of the Defence ministry in Buenos Aires.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 18:11 UTC
Merkel coalition leads a week ahead of national elections in Germany

The opposition Social Democrats has gained slightly in the last pre-election opinion poll by German public broadcaster ARD. Their candidate, Peer Steinbrück has raised some eyebrows by raising one of his own digits in a weekly newspaper supplement.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 18:10 UTC
China in ‘crucial’ restructuring stage, ‘much needed to sustain economic growth’

China's economy is going through a “crucial” stage of restructuring, says the country's Premier, Li Keqiang. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in the Chinese port city of Dalian, Mr Li pledged to improve relations with foreign firms.