Stories for January 24th 2014

Friday, January 24th 2014 - 03:35 UTC
Mercosur/EU with their own problems still don't have a date to continue negotiations

Mercosur and the European Union continue to work on their tariff reduction proposals list but have no scheduled date for negotiators to meet and advance on a long delayed trade agreement according to Uruguayan diplomatic sources. However what is certain is that when the date is agreed it will be clear if Mercosur consensus proposal will include all founding members of the group.
Friday, January 24th 2014 - 03:33 UTC
Ecuador airline suspends flights to Venezuela because of tickets' debts

Ecuadorean airline Tame has suspended flights to Venezuela, demanding 43m dollars in overdue payments for tickets. Some 80 passengers were left stranded on Thursday at the airport in the Ecuadorean capital, Quito. Tame says the Venezuelan Central Bank has not transferred any money to its account in Ecuador since April 2013.
Friday, January 24th 2014 - 03:31 UTC
Discos are common in Venezuelan penitentiaries, admits minister

Discotheques have long operated inside Venezuelan penitentiaries, the head of the country's prison service said Thursday in response to a public uproar over the death of a young man after partying at a disco behind bars.
Friday, January 24th 2014 - 03:28 UTC
Falkland Islands cruise ship season looking “relatively healthy”

The Falkland Islands cruise ship season is looking “relatively healthy” to date, according to Sulivan Shipping Tourism Coordinator Samantha Marsh, with a third of the estimated 45,000 (total) passengers scheduled still to visit during February. The season got underway in October and to date 12,300 passengers have landed from 41 vessels of varying sizes.
Friday, January 24th 2014 - 02:15 UTC
Argentina: in chaotic trading dollar jumps 12.4% in one day to 8 Pesos in the official market

In a day of chaotic trading the Argentine Peso on Thursday again plummeted against the US dollar losing 12.4% of its value in the official market, ending the day at just over 8 Pesos. In earlier operations the dollar was selling at 8,31 Pesos until the Central bank decided to intervene helping to cool the market.
Friday, January 24th 2014 - 02:11 UTC
Record hot January for Argentina with thermal factor 47.6 Celsius in Buenos Aires

January 2014 is becoming the hottest month in 53 years for Argentina with the thermal factor reaching an unbearable 47.6 Celsius mid afternoon before rain poured bringing some relief to most of the country an particularly in cement city Buenos Aires.
Friday, January 24th 2014 - 02:09 UTC
Argentine 2013 trade surplus down 27%, helping with the dollar shortage

Argentina's trade balance during 2013 left of surplus of 9.24 billion dollars, 27% less than in the previous year (12.42bn), according to the latest release from the official stats office, indec. Exports in the past year grew by 3% to reach a value of 83bn dollars, while imports rose by 8% and totaled just over 74bn.
Friday, January 24th 2014 - 02:07 UTC
Blatter confident it will be a great Cup, after meeting Brazil president Rousseff

FIFA president Sepp Blatter played down concern about sluggish World Cup preparations on Thursday, even when his deputy warned Curitiba must prove it can finalize work to remain a venue. Blatter met visiting Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff at FIFA headquarters in Zurich and the pair both made positive noises about Brazil's ability to deliver come the big kick-off on June 12.