Stories for February 9th 2015

Monday, February 9th 2015 - 17:41 UTC
FARC vows to lay down arms and to reinvent itself as a political party

Colombian FARC guerrillas on Saturday vowed to lay down their weapons and reinvent themselves as a political party, if the Colombian government follows through with the reforms under discussion in peace talks.
Monday, February 9th 2015 - 17:34 UTC
Food, housing and transportation prices accelerate January inflation in Brazil

Brazil's consumer price inflation accelerated in January, putting the 12-month rate well above the central bank's tolerance band and at the highest level since September 2011, underscoring one of the main challenges facing Latin America's largest economy in the year ahead.
Monday, February 9th 2015 - 13:26 UTC
Researchers fear Ebola virus has mutated and are studying contagion degree

More than 22,000 people have been infected and about 9,000 are known to have died in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since what evolved into the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola was identified last March.
Monday, February 9th 2015 - 12:46 UTC
Bank of England unanimously leaves interest rates at 0.5% for the 71st month

Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.5% for the 71st month in a row and kept its stimulus programme of quantitative easing (QE) unchanged. Most forecasters now think interest rates will not rise before next year.
Monday, February 9th 2015 - 12:43 UTC
Dengue cases 'explode' by 57% in Brazil during January

Dengue cases in Brazil rose by 57% in January, an increase that the Brazilian government partially attributed to the water crisis in the country's southeastern region. In the first four weeks of the year, Brazil registered 40,196 cases of dengue, compared with 26,017 in the same period of 2014, the Brazilian Health Ministry said.
Monday, February 9th 2015 - 12:32 UTC
China's import of key commodities falls sharply during January

China's imports of key commodities eased in January after the record high set in December, as expected as the earlier heavy purchases to take advantage of weak prices had swollen inventories, preliminary customs data released has shown.
Monday, February 9th 2015 - 12:30 UTC
FARC invites Colombia's newly-crowned Miss Universe to attend peace talks

Rebels with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, on Saturday invited the newly-crowned Miss Universe to attend peace talks with the Colombian government.
Monday, February 9th 2015 - 10:12 UTC
Guyana, US, Peru and Uruguay consent to OAS visits on anti-corruption

The governments of Guyana, the United States, Peru and Uruguay confirmed this week to the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) their consent to receive on site visits as part of the Fifth Round of the Mechanism for Follow-up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC) of the OAS.