Stories for October 31st 2014

Friday, October 31st 2014 - 21:21 UTC
Argentina's holdout dispute spills into the White House: CFK sends letter to Obama questioning Ambassador Soderberg

In a harsh letter, released on Friday, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez urged US President Barack Obama to explain whether ”Nancy Soderberg, the person you have appointed as Chair of the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB), which reports directly to the Government of the United States of America, is also the Co-Chair of the American Task Force Argentina (ATFA), an entity specifically created to attack and slander the Argentine Republic and its President.”
Friday, October 31st 2014 - 08:27 UTC
Pacific Alliance and Mercosur begin round of ministerial informative meetings

The Pacific Alliance and Mercosur will be holding a two-day ministerial informative meeting in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, beginning this Friday, a first approach to a possible convergence of the two groupings, according to official releases.
Friday, October 31st 2014 - 08:15 UTC
Uruguayan challenger promises to abolish tax on pensions and lift the income tax floor

Uruguay's opposition candidate Luis Lacalle Pou admitted on Thursday that defeating incumbent Tabare Vazquez in the 30 November runoff is 'difficult' but not impossible. In last Sunday's first round the incumbent candidate garnered 47.9% of the vote and Lacalle Pou, 30.9%.
Friday, October 31st 2014 - 08:08 UTC
Chinese relief for Argentina: central banks activate currency-swap

The central banks of Argentina and China on Thursday activated a bilateral currency-swap agreement, which meant that the Argentine central bank received an initial tranche of Yuan equivalent to 814 million dollars.
Friday, October 31st 2014 - 07:51 UTC
Argentina approves new hydrocarbons bill to attract foreign investments

Argentina's lower house of Congress, which is controlled by President Cristina Fernandez's allies, gave final approval Thursday for a new Hydrocarbons Law that was harshly criticized by opposition lawmakers. The lower house passed the bill with a vote of 130-116 with one abstention after more than 14 hours of debate.
Friday, October 31st 2014 - 07:13 UTC
Google victory in Argentina: search engines are not responsible for content they index

In what is considered a leading case for Argentina, the country's Supreme Court said search engines are not responsible for any content they index, handing a victory to Google in what had become one of the most technologically complicated issues to reach Argentina’s highest court in recent memory.
Friday, October 31st 2014 - 07:04 UTC
Falklands demining contracts goes to Bactec and Fenix Insight

Two companies have been awarded contracts by the UK Foreign Office for the clearance of minefields in the Falkland Islands, dating back to the 1982 conflict when retreating Argentine forces laid antipersonnel and other explosives particularly in a ring surrounding the capital Stanley.
Friday, October 31st 2014 - 06:49 UTC
US economy expands 3.5% in third quarter boosted by government spending and exports

The US economy grew at an annual rate of 3.5% in the July-September quarter, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. That was better than the 3% pace that economist had been expecting and follows the 4.6% growth rate recorded in the April-June quarter.
Friday, October 31st 2014 - 06:38 UTC
Korea's largest shipbuilder announces record losses worse to come

South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd, the world's biggest shipbuilder, slid to a record quarterly loss of 1.8 billion dollars and warned it's heading for its worst-ever year as cost overruns mount up in new business lines it developed to counter a global glut of low-margin ship orders.
Friday, October 31st 2014 - 06:28 UTC
Petrobras consortium find high-quality oil at the Libra area, off Rio do Janeiro

The Petrobras-led Libra consortium has said that the first extension well in the Libra area, known as 3-BRSA-1255-RJS (3-RJS-731), has proven the discovery of high-quality oil in the northwest portion of the structure.