Stories for April 17th 2014

Thursday, April 17th 2014 - 22:09 UTC
OAS Secretary General Insulza: “García Márquez Raised Latin American Literature to Global Heights”

José Miguel Insulza, today expressed his “deep sorrow over the death of Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian and Latin American author, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, primordial figure of the most prolific and brilliant generation of authors our continent has ever seen, who raised the literature of Latin America to global heights.”
Thursday, April 17th 2014 - 08:16 UTC
Mujica proposes wife Topolansky as the ruling coalition's vice-president candidate

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica has said that his wife and First Lady, Lucia Topolansky would make “a good Vice-president”. His statement comes ahead of June's primary and October's presidential election when Mujica's five year term will be over and he can't be re-elected immediately.
Thursday, April 17th 2014 - 08:15 UTC
Brazilian economy expanded at an annualized 1.63% in February

Brazil's economy grew at a 0.24% rate in February, compared to the previous month, the Central Bank said Wednesday. The Central Bank's Index of Economic Activity indicates that the economy grew 1.63% in February, compared to February 2013, while year-on-year growth was 2.41%, up from the 2.29% figure reported in the previous month.
Thursday, April 17th 2014 - 08:12 UTC
Brazil's chief banker forecasts inflation will come down in coming months

Food prices in Brazil have started to ease and should bring inflation down in coming months, central bank chief Alexandre Tombini said on Wednesday, reinforcing views that policymakers are ready to wrap up their year-long campaign of rate hikes. He reiterated that a significant part of the impact of past rate increases on inflation has yet to be felt.
Thursday, April 17th 2014 - 08:09 UTC
Argentina court prevents supplying Brazil with football hooligans intelligence

Notorious Argentine “barras bravas” football hooligans can travel to the World Cup without intelligence being passed on beforehand to hosts Brazil, a court has ruled. The court in Buenos Aires said that the Argentine government is not allowed to tell another country personal information about its citizens, a lawyer for the United Argentine Fans (HUA) supporters' group said on Wednesday.
Thursday, April 17th 2014 - 08:04 UTC
Argentine magistrate looks into Antarctica campaign over costs and nepotism

Argentine Federal magistrate Luis Rodríguez has ordered Supreme Court accountancy experts to prepare a report on the 2012/13 Antarctic campaign including two tenders and extraordinary expenses all of which involving an estimated 30 million pesos, approximately 4 million dollars.
Thursday, April 17th 2014 - 07:59 UTC
Brazil sends army to World Cup host city following police strike and widespread looting

Brazil's government ordered 5,000 army troops to one of the host cities for the coming World Cup to provide law and order after a police strike led to civil unrest and looting.On Wednesday, the troops entered Salvador, the capital of Bahia state in northeastern Brazil, the state where police began striking on Tuesday night followed by the ransacking of shops and supermarkets, according to local reports.
Thursday, April 17th 2014 - 07:49 UTC
New Zealand gets tough on working conditions for crews on board foreign chartered fishing vessels

A fisheries amendment bill that has passed its second reading in Parliament sets that fishing companies can use foreign charter vessels only if they are flying the New Zealand flag and obey New Zealand laws. The legislation came from a ministerial inquiry led by minister Paul Swain, following serious allegations of mistreatment of crew on foreign chartered vessels.
Thursday, April 17th 2014 - 07:47 UTC
Yuan is 'significantly undervalued' US Treasury tells China

United States has told China its currency must be allowed to rise if it and the global economy are to see stable growth. The US Treasury's twice-yearly report to policymakers says the Yuan is “significantly undervalued”.
Thursday, April 17th 2014 - 04:58 UTC
China's economy expands 7.4% in first quarter and retail sales in March 12.2%

China's economy expanded by 7.4% in the first quarter of the year, better than what many were expecting, but it is a slowdown from 7.7% growth in the final quarter of last year. Other data released with the gross domestic product (GDP) figure showed industrial output rising 8.8% in March from one year ago.