Stories for February 17th 2014

Monday, February 17th 2014 - 10:00 UTC
Uruguay will appeal to a cut in state-run utilities rates, if necessary, to keep inflation under control

Uruguayan President Jose Mujica admitted that annual inflation would likely remain between 7 and 9% for the rest of his administration, above the government's target maximum, but he will appeal to a cut in state-run utilities rates if necessary to keep the index under control.
Monday, February 17th 2014 - 09:57 UTC
FIFA will conduct surprise doping tests of all World Cup players

FIFA is expected to conduct surprise doping tests of all World Cup players at least once beginning in March, setting up biological passports to determine possible irregularities in blood and urine samples. FIFA chief medical officer Jiri Dvorak said all teams and players should be tested unannounced between March 1 and the World Cup opener in June.
Monday, February 17th 2014 - 09:54 UTC
Mercosur condemns violence in Venezuela and calls for dialogue

Mercosur country members, in an official release rejected all acts of violence and condemned the destabilization attempts against the government of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
Monday, February 17th 2014 - 09:42 UTC
Uruguay and Venezuela will further increase energy related cooperation

Uruguay will renew the contract for the purchase of Venezuela oil and accept the stake increase of that country in a local bio-fuels corporation during the scheduled visit of President Nicolas Maduro to Montevideo next month; it was announced by the Uruguayan Foreign affairs ministry.
Monday, February 17th 2014 - 09:35 UTC
Maduro blames Washington and expels three US consular officials

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said Sunday he was expelling three U.S. consular officials, accusing them of conspiring with the opposition forces to foment unrest as violent protests ran into a fifth straight night. The expulsions come after two weeks of sporadic protests against across the country.
Monday, February 17th 2014 - 09:27 UTC
Italy expected to have a new centre-left government with maverick mayor Renzi

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano summoned Matteo Renzi to a meeting on Monday at which he is expected to ask the centre-left leader to form a government that must overhaul one of the most troubled economies in the Euro zone.
Monday, February 17th 2014 - 09:23 UTC
Euro-zone growth still fragile but stronger than expected at the end of 2013

Economic growth across the Euro-zone was stronger than expected at the end of 2013, according to official figures, raising hopes the recovery is gaining a foothold. Gross domestic product grew by 0.3% in the October-December period from the previous quarter, said Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office. That amounts to an annualized rate of about 1.2 %.
Monday, February 17th 2014 - 09:21 UTC
Hague underlines close links with Colombia; meets President Santos Monday

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague was received on Sunday in Cartagena by Colombian Foreign minister María Angeles Holguín and on Monday is scheduled to meet with Juan Manuel Santos at the Palacio Nariño, seat of the Executive in Bogotá. Mr. Hague on Monday evening will be flying to Brazil.
Monday, February 17th 2014 - 09:09 UTC
Uruguay's budget surplus reached 2.3% of GDP in 2013

Despite a decade of sustained growth Uruguay's fiscal deficit reached 2.3% of GDP last year, which is an improvement over 2012, when it reached 2.8%, but above the government's target of 2.1%. In money terms this means the budget red was equivalent to 1.154bn dollars, including 350 million dollar losses from government owned companies.
Monday, February 17th 2014 - 09:03 UTC
Argentina vs hedge funds: second chapter of appeal before the US Supreme Court

The Argentine government will appeal on Monday before the US Supreme Court for the second time against the hedge funds claim. The Supreme Court is the last judiciary step in the dispute.