Stories for August 18th 2014

Monday, August 18th 2014 - 22:55 UTC
Marina exposes Dilma's 'soft belly': polls shows she could beat the president in a run-off

Environmentalist Marina Silva could unseat incumbent Dilma Rousseff in Brazil's presidential elections in October, a public opinion poll revealed on Monday, reflecting an altered political landscape since Silva's running mate was killed in a plane crash last week.
Monday, August 18th 2014 - 07:30 UTC
Brazil: Marina Silva still unconfirmed, rattles chances of Rousseff and Neves

The Brazilian Socialist Party plans to launch environmentalist Marina Silva as its presidential candidate this week, replacing party leader Eduardo Campos who was killed in a plane clash, a senior party official said over the weekend.
Monday, August 18th 2014 - 07:19 UTC
US Panama Canal workers recall and celebrate the century old feat

The 100th anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal, hailed at the time as one of the world's great wonders, has inspired a celebration in central US state Florida to showcase the experience of the US canal workers behind the engineering feat.
Monday, August 18th 2014 - 07:16 UTC
Mixed data from China, and doubts about the 7.5% growth target for 2014

China's latest industrial production and retail sales figures are higher in July from one year ago but the pace of expansion has slowed. Industrial production, a measures of output at factories, workshops and mines jumped 9% in July, compared to a 9.2% rise in June. Retail sales in July rose by 12.2%. But that's also below June's 12.4% spike.
Monday, August 18th 2014 - 07:11 UTC
Strong sales of Jaguar and Land Rover help boost Tata profits

Tata Motors has reported a big jump in profits thanks to strong sales at its Jaguar Land Rover business. Net profits at India's biggest carmaker tripled to 53.98bn rupees (882m dollars) in the three months to the end of June, far more than analysts had expected. Revenue grew by almost 40%.
Monday, August 18th 2014 - 07:04 UTC
Scientists create a carbon dioxide absorbing 'polymer sponge' that helps new energy sources

Scientists have created a new sponge-type material that absorbs carbon dioxide, which is believed to play a key role in global warming. The polymer – a large molecule used in plastics – is thought to have the potential to bridge the gap between the use of fossil fuels and new energy sources such as hydrogen, and could be integrated into power plant smokestacks in the future.
Monday, August 18th 2014 - 06:52 UTC
“Chile not proud of Falklands war support”, but “proud of peace treaty with Argentina”

Defense minister Jorge Burgos said that most Chileans are not proud of the attitude of the Pinochet dictatorship when the Falklands/Malvinas war, but also admitted it happened at a very different and difficult moment in the relations between Chile and Argentina.
Monday, August 18th 2014 - 06:35 UTC
Exodus: a million more Puerto Ricans on mainland US than in the island

A new study has found that Puerto Rico has undergone such a dramatic population shift that there are now over a million more Puerto Ricans on the US mainland than on the US island territory. The Pew Research Center study showed that between 2010 and 2013, more people left Puerto Rico for mainland US than those who left in the 1980s or 1990s.
Monday, August 18th 2014 - 06:17 UTC
Malvinas Museum incorporates San Martin letter referred to links with South Atlantic Islands

The Malvinas Islands Museum in Argentina has incorporated a letter allegedly handwritten by Liberator General Jose de San Martin and dated August 1816, a month after Argentina formally declared independence (07/09/1816) in which he mentions having given instructions to liberate prisoners in Patagones (Patagonia) and Malvinas Islands so they can join the Andes army.
Monday, August 18th 2014 - 06:13 UTC
First Kirchnerite governor crosses the line and joins opposition group

The governor from the Argentine province of Rio Negro has decided to cross the line and join one of the leading opposition groups whose head is a strong presidential hopeful for October 2015. The move can be threatening to the government of President Cristina Fernandez if more disenchanted elected officials follow or their lawmakers also decide to cross the line and could jeopardize the government's majority in Congress.