Stories for September 29th 2014

Monday, September 29th 2014 - 22:26 UTC
Ambassador Castro thanks British unions for support in 'vulture funds' and Malvinas disputes

In a speech delivered to over three hundred trade union delegates, Argentine ambassador in London Alicia Castro thanked the British unions for their support in fighting the 'vulture funds' and in backing the call for dialogue on the question of the Falklands/Malvinas, while praising progress made by Argentina regarding the role of women.
Monday, September 29th 2014 - 21:16 UTC
Judge Griesa declares Argentina in contempt of court, but deferred financial penalties

New York district judge Thomas Griesa declared on Monday Argentina in contempt of court, due to the country's actions in attempting to change debt jurisdictions as a result of the ongoing judicial conflict with holdout investors presided over by the US magistrate.
Monday, September 29th 2014 - 09:22 UTC
Venezuela's Bolivar hits a record low of 100 to the US dollar

Venezuela's Bolivar currency hit a record low 100 to the U.S. dollar on the black market on Friday, making the dollar 16 times more expensive than the strongest official rate, according to a website that tracks it.
Monday, September 29th 2014 - 09:16 UTC
Rousseff pledges media regulation (but not content) if re-elected this week

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, seeking re-election next week, says she will pursue media regulation if she returns for a second term, seeking to boost pluralism without influencing editorial content, according to media reports.
Monday, September 29th 2014 - 09:09 UTC
Record soybean and wheat crops forecasted by the International Grains Council

The 2014-2015 season’s soybean and wheat crops are on track to set records, while rice and corn look poised to be more in line with last season’s record crops, according to the International Grains Council's September Grain Market Report.
Monday, September 29th 2014 - 08:54 UTC
Uruguay needs to improve infrastructure, “especially roads and port facilities”

Finland's UPM, one of the largest forestry groups in the world, does not intend for the moment to build any new pulp mills in Uruguay, said Jaakko Sarantola, vice president of the cellulose division of the company, who also pointed out that Uruguay needs to improve infrastructure to facilitate logistics.
Monday, September 29th 2014 - 08:47 UTC
Opening the economy “would be a disaster for Brazilian industry” states Rousseff minister

Anticipating what could be policy under a second government of President Dilma Rousseff, her Trade Minister Mauro Borges told Brazilian daily Folha do Sao Paulo that opening the country to more foreign trade would be a “disaster for Brazilian industry” and lead to the “mexicanization” of the economy, in reference to the light assembly factories known as “maquiladoras” that dominate Mexico’s non-oil exports.
Monday, September 29th 2014 - 08:39 UTC
Argentine stats on economic growth again come under suspicion

Argentina’s government released some hopeful economic statistics last week with numbers showing that the economy climbed out of recession in the last quarter. But with skepticism over the numbers, combined with a free-falling peso, in light of Argentina’s debt dispute with holdout creditors, economists still have a grim outlook the Mercosur member economy.
Monday, September 29th 2014 - 08:33 UTC
French far-right won its first ever seats in the country's Senate

The far-right National Front won its first ever seats in France's upper house of parliament, as President Francois Hollande's Socialist party lost its Senate majority. The left still controls the lower house, which is the dominant legislative body in France, but Sunday's ballot underlined the unpopularity of the president and the continued rise of the anti-immigration, anti-Euro National Front.
Monday, September 29th 2014 - 08:25 UTC
UK far right party gaining ground into conservative turf

A lawmaker from Britain’s ruling Conservative party defected to the anti-EU United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), dealing a blow to Prime Minister David Cameron on the eve of his party’s annual conference.