Stories for January 23rd 2014

Thursday, January 23rd 2014 - 23:36 UTC
Argentina after Israeli fighter planes; concern in London and Brasilia, says defense expert

Argentina is considering the purchase from Israel of 18 multipurpose combat aircraft Kfir Block 60 after negotiations with Spain for 16 Mirage F1 fighter bombers fell through, according to a report from Buenos Aires daily Clarin.
Thursday, January 23rd 2014 - 21:26 UTC
Panama Canal expansion will be completed in 2015 “no matter what”, says minister

Work to enlarge the Panama Canal will be completed in 2015 no matter what, Panamanian Finance Minister Frank De Lima said on Wednesday, despite the continuing feud over cost overruns with contractor GUPC. The Panama Canal authority “has strongly affirmed that the canal would be complete in 2015, with or without” the GUPC consortium, the minister told the media on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Thursday, January 23rd 2014 - 21:22 UTC
Christ the Redeemer head and hands under repairs but still open to the public

Repairs have begun on Brazil's Christ the Redeemer statue after lightning damaged the 38 meters statue's head, right finger and thumb. The iconic statue of Christ overlooking Rio de Janeiro was struck again last week during a violent storm, damaging its right thumb.
Thursday, January 23rd 2014 - 21:21 UTC
Brazil's vulnerable transport system again exposed as Rio commuter train accident sowed chaos

A commuter train in Rio de Janeiro left the tracks and hit a pole supporting power lines early Wednesday, causing no injuries but sowing widespread chaos across the overburdened public transportation system of Brazil's Olympic city which next June/July will host several World Cup matches.
Thursday, January 23rd 2014 - 20:57 UTC
Cristina Fernandez is back on stage and announces program to help the young unemployed

Forty two days after her last public speech, Argentine president Cristina Fernandez was back on stage on Wednesday evening on national television to criticize the media, question the opposition and announce a new social plan to aid young unemployed and encourage them to study.
Thursday, January 23rd 2014 - 10:38 UTC
Brazil 2013-job-creation was the poorest in a decade; unemployment at record low

Brazil's economy added the fewest net payroll jobs in a decade in 2013, a sign that three consecutive years of weak economic growth is weighing down the economy, according to the latest government data. However unemployment remains at record lows.
Thursday, January 23rd 2014 - 10:27 UTC
Paris Club will study Argentina's repayment proposal; long process expected

The Paris Club said it would study an outline from Argentina for repaying the more than 9.5 billion dollars it owes the group of creditor nations. Argentina is eager to resolve the problem of its outstanding debt with the group in order to regain access to international capital markets from which it has been shut out since its 2002 default.
Thursday, January 23rd 2014 - 10:13 UTC
Report reveals overseas accounts in tax havens of the Chinese communist elite

Close relatives of China’s top leaders have held secretive offshore companies in tax havens that helped shroud the Communist elite’s wealth, a leaked cache of documents reveals. As the report was released several western newspapers, news agencies and websites, some of them with the mandarin version, were hacked in China.
Thursday, January 23rd 2014 - 09:47 UTC
Almagro and Timerman discuss bilateral agenda and possible Cristina Fernandez-Mujica meeting

A meeting of the presidents from Argentina and Uruguay, Cristina Fernandez and Jose Mujica has not been agreed but is 'in the agenda' said Uruguayan foreign minister Luis Almagro following an hour long meeting with his counterpart Hector Timerman on Wednesday in Montevideo.
Thursday, January 23rd 2014 - 09:37 UTC
Argentina strangles Montevideo port activity; operators call for a bilateral agreement

Container operators in the port of Montevideo are demanding from Uruguayan authorities an agreement with Argentina to recover all the transshipment activity which has been lost since November when the government of President Cristina Fernandez retaliated against Uruguay over bilateral issues.