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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, April 19th 2024 - 23:03 UTC

Stories for May 22nd 2015

  • Friday, May 22nd 2015 - 10:21 UTC

    El Niño could again disrupt global food markets later this year

    Professor Scaife said there was a 70% chance of a “moderate” El Niño event towards the end of this year that is likely to lead to droughts and crop failures.<br />

    A strong El Niño is likely to increase prices of staple foods such as rice, coffee, sugar and cocoa, say scientists. Forecasters agree that the El Niño effect, which can drive droughts and flooding, is under way in the tropical Pacific, but they say it is too early to say how severe it will be.

  • Friday, May 22nd 2015 - 08:52 UTC

    PM Li Keqiang in Bogotá: China and Colombia considering free trade accord

    President Santos received PM Li at the Nariño Palace for a first round of talks and signed deals providing scholarships for 200 Colombians to study in China

    Chinese Premier Li Keqiang vowed to deepen economic ties with Colombia after arriving to Bogotá on Thursday, as part of his four-nation South American tour aimed at boosting trade and investment. Li is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Colombia since the two nations established diplomatic ties 35 years ago and his visit was hailed as historic by President Juan Manuel Santos.

  • Friday, May 22nd 2015 - 08:48 UTC

    Caribbean epidemiologic alert following reports of Zika virus in Brazil

    The Aedes mosquito is present in much of the Americas and also transmits dengue fever and chikungunya.

    Following reports of suspected Zika virus in Brazil, the health ministries of several Caribbean countries have issued advisories for the mosquito borne viral disease.On Thursday, the Jamaica Health Ministry issued an epidemiological alert after the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) noted the potential spread of this arbovirus across territories where the vectors (Aedes) are present.

  • Friday, May 22nd 2015 - 08:39 UTC

    “Obama would relish the opportunity to visit Cuba and Havana in particular”

    The reporter who asked about the presidential visit to Cuba was Cristina Escobar from Cuba's national television

    President Obama is looking to travel to Cuba’s capitol city of Havana before his tenure ends, White Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Thursday, the same day a Florida bank announced that the State Department has given them permission to make diplomatic transactions between the two nations.

  • Friday, May 22nd 2015 - 08:36 UTC

    A quarter of Argentine children is poor compared to 10.8% for the whole population

    There are 'undeniable' advances in income transfer:74.5% of Argentine children is benefitted by some kind of government resources transfer, said Repetto

    A quarter of children below the age of four in Argentina is poor and almost five in ten babies less than six months have malnutrition problems according to the Center for Implementation of Equity and Growth Public Policies, CIPPEC. The data was provided in the CIPPEC website dedicated to make first infancy a priority through a childcare integral policy.

  • Friday, May 22nd 2015 - 08:20 UTC

    Lloyd Register Group appointed a new CEO and will take the post next October

    Alastair Marsh joined LR as Group Financial Controller in April 2007 and was appointed as Group Finance Director in April 2008.

    Alastair Marsh, current CFO at the Lloyd’s Register Group Ltd. (LR), has been appointed as the successor to CEO Richard Sadler who has decided to step down at the end of 2015. Sadler will pass the CEO role to Marsh on October 1, 2015 and commence a formal handover period until the end of December 2015.

  • Friday, May 22nd 2015 - 08:16 UTC

    Brazil heading for full recession: economic activity down, unemployment up

    Economists expect Brazil's GDP to shrink 1.2% in 2015, the steepest decline in 25 years, according to a central bank poll on Monday.

    Economic activity in Brazil tumbled in the first quarter and unemployment climbed to a near four-year high, adding to signals that a looming recession could worsen as President Dilma Rousseff reins in public spending.

  • Friday, May 22nd 2015 - 05:49 UTC

    Brazil and Uruguay on an “urgent and necessary” redesign of Mercosur

    Vazquez said it was necessary to grant member countries “certain degree of flexibility, so that those who wish can advance with other trade partners”

    Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez said it was “urgent and necessary” to redesign Mercosur so as to give its members greater 'trade flexibility'. Vazquez made the statements following Thursday meeting with his peer Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia and underlined “it would be naive to admit that Mercosur as it stands currently, is satisfactory”.

  • Friday, May 22nd 2015 - 05:42 UTC

    Lagarde preaches fiscal discipline in one of Brazil's most dangerous slums

    “The people who suffer the most with fiscal indiscipline at the end of the day are generally the poor”, said Lagarde in the Complexo do Alemao favela

    The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) encouraged Brazil on Thursday to pursue fiscal discipline, saying it was needed to protect social programs benefitting the poorest members of society. IMF chief Christine Lagarde made the link during a visit to Complexo do Alemao, one of Rio's largest and most dangerous slums and an example of the challenges the country faces as it struggles with low growth and high inflation