Stories for January 2014

Thursday, January 9th 2014 - 06:43 UTC
Exporters on high alert as strikes hit Chile’s ports once again

Stoppages spread across Chile as workers claim they are owed thousands of dollars in compensation agreed to in resolution to strikes last year. Fruit exports in Central Chile and copper shipments in the North have been stalled as workers from several major ports across the country have gone on strike, raising fears the export-oriented economy could see a repeat of last year's strikes which lasted three weeks and cost millions of dollars.
Thursday, January 9th 2014 - 06:35 UTC
People living in Buenos Aires shanty towns increased 52% in ten years

The number of people living in shanty towns or “misery villages” in Argentina and particularly in the capital Buenos Aires keeps increasing despite a decade of sustained growth at almost Chinese rates. According to data from the latest census of 2010, the number of people living in 'misery villages' in Buenos Aires was 163.587 compared to the 107.422 in 2001, with a 52% increase.
Thursday, January 9th 2014 - 06:23 UTC
Increase in TB cases in Buenos Aires linked to sweat shops working conditions

Tuberculosis cases in Buenos Aires City have increased 25% between 1985 and 2011 according to a paper presented by a Federal Attorney who links the surge to dreadful working conditions in many of the sweat-shops in the Argentine capital that employ cheap foreign labor.
Wednesday, January 8th 2014 - 21:21 UTC
Visit Britain thinks Germans are rude, Australians intolerant and Russians cold

VisitBritain, the UK government’s agency with a budget of nearly £30 million a year and tasked with bringing as many visitors to the UK as possible, releases a detailed inside guide on tourists from most destinations for use by British hoteliers and operators.
Wednesday, January 8th 2014 - 20:59 UTC
Gibraltar/La Linea unions and business groups call for free flow of persons across the border

Gibraltarian and Spanish unions and business organizations on Tuesday called on their respective governments to act and implement measures that will guarantee the free flow of persons across the border. In a memorandum that will be sent to the European Commission and the European Parliament, the cross-border group expressed its “absolute aversion” to the current situation at the frontier, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.
Wednesday, January 8th 2014 - 20:17 UTC
Kennedy in 1963 considered a military intervention in Brazil; a coup followed in 1964

Former US President John F Kennedy mulled possible military intervention in Brazil one year before the 1964 coup that ousted then constitutional president Joao Goulart, according to archive documents released on Tuesday.
Wednesday, January 8th 2014 - 05:58 UTC
Germany's Wintershall joins Patagonia's Vaca Muerta shale gas and oil rush

Germany's Wintershall signed on Tuesday a farm-in contract with the Argentine Patagonia province of Neuquén to explore Vaca Muerta’s shale gas and oil field. Under the terms of the joint-venture agreement Wintershall together with Gas & Petroleo de Neuquen will explore and develop the Aguada Federal block and are committed to invest 80 million Euros.
Wednesday, January 8th 2014 - 05:48 UTC
Venezuela's violent crime unstoppable: former beauty queen and husband shot dead

Gunmen shot dead a former Miss Venezuela and her ex-husband in the South American nation, authorities said today. Monica Spear, 29, a soap opera actress, and Henry Berry, 39, died in an attempted robbery on the highway between Puerto Cabello and Valencia in central Venezuela.
Wednesday, January 8th 2014 - 05:43 UTC
BOT Turks and Caicos former premier extradited from Brazil to face corruption charges

The former premier of the British Overseas Territory Turks and Caicos has been extradited back to the territory to face corruption charges, officials said Tuesday. Michael Misick arrived at JAGS McCartney International Airport in the capital Grand Turk early Tuesday from Brazil, the Turks and Caicos Islands Governor's Office said.
Wednesday, January 8th 2014 - 05:39 UTC
IDB loans, guarantees and grants totaled nearly 14bn dollars in 2013

According to preliminary data, in 2013 the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB, approved 167 financing packages worth some 14 billion dollars, a figure surpassed only by that of 2009, when the Bank´s financing hit a 15.9bn in response to the global economic crisis.