Stories for March 6th 2014

Thursday, March 6th 2014 - 21:45 UTC
Foreign Office minister Swire will visit Uruguay on Wednesday 12 March

Hugo Swire MP, FCO Minister for Latin America, will be visiting Uruguay on Wednesday 12 March where he is scheduled to hold several political and trade meetings. The minister will be returning from Santiago de Chile where he will attend the inauguration ceremony of Chilean president Michelle Bachelet.
Thursday, March 6th 2014 - 21:40 UTC
Jamaica pledges to decriminalize cannabis ('ganja') “later this year”

Jamaica's Cannabis Commercial and Medicinal Research Taskforce (CCMRT) says it has been given an assurance that the country later this year will decriminalize marijuana as the island seeks to establish a medicinal marijuana industry.
Thursday, March 6th 2014 - 21:13 UTC
UK interest rate held at 0.5%, making it a record low of five years

UK interest rates have been held at 0.5% for another month, the Bank of England announced on Thursday. The decision by the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee comes five years after the record low level was first introduced.
Thursday, March 6th 2014 - 21:07 UTC
Fearing deflation Euro bank leaves interest rate unchanged at record low

The European Central Bank (ECB) kept on Thursday its benchmark interest rate at its record low of 0.25%, despite fears inflation could get stuck in a “danger zone” below 1%. The bank slightly raised its forecast for growth to 1.2% in 2014, but dropped its inflation estimate.
Thursday, March 6th 2014 - 20:57 UTC
UN human rights experts ask to visit Venezuela to check in situ allegations of abuses

A group of UN-appointed human rights experts has asked Venezuela for “prompt clarification” of allegations of abuse against anti-government protesters. The six independent experts said that they were “deeply disturbed” by allegations of cases of arbitrary detention of protesters.
Thursday, March 6th 2014 - 12:48 UTC
WHO public consultation on sugars intake to help combat obesity and dental caries

The World Health Organization (WHO) is launching a public consultation on its draft guideline on sugars intake. When finalized, the guideline will provide countries with recommendations on limiting the consumption of sugars to reduce public health problems like obesity and dental caries (commonly referred to as tooth decay).
Thursday, March 6th 2014 - 05:53 UTC
February confirmed that inflation remains Uruguay's main challenge

Inflation in Uruguay during February reached 1.66% which is equivalent to 9.82% in the last twelve months, the third highest in South America behind Venezuela and Argentina.
Thursday, March 6th 2014 - 05:44 UTC
Malvinas opportunities and links for Uruguay, but mostly unknown to current generations

Lawmaker Jaime Trobo came out strongly is support of close links between the Falkland Islands and Uruguay in a column which he published in Mercopress underlining the ”interesting lesson of discovering a reality mostly unknown for Uruguayans despite the (Islands) geographic, cultural and historic proximity to Uruguay”.
Thursday, March 6th 2014 - 05:38 UTC
US Supreme Court rules for British Gas in arbitration case against Argentina

The US Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday for British company British Gas Group Plc in its effort to reinstate a 185.3 million dollars arbitration award against Argentina that a US appeals court threw out.
Thursday, March 6th 2014 - 05:31 UTC
US budget battle takes off: Obama emphasizes combating poverty and helping middle class

President Barack Obama proposed new tax credits and job-training programs for US workers in a 2015 budget that drew instant condemnation from Republicans, who dismissed the document as an election-year campaign pitch.