Stories for July 9th 2015

Thursday, July 9th 2015 - 06:51 UTC
Francis in Bolivia greeted as a 'brother' with 'a message of hope and liberation'

Pope Francis greeted Bolivia with a message of inclusion, a central theme of his three-nation tour to his home continent, as he arrived in South America's poorest nation. Landing in La Paz early in the evening, thousands of faithful -- many of whom had spent a chilly night outdoors waiting for him -- welcomed the pope as choirs sang in the indigenous Aymara language.
Thursday, July 9th 2015 - 06:46 UTC
Brazil's six-month inflation at 6.17%, highest for half year since 2003

Brazil's inflation was little changed at 0.79% in June, rising to 8.89% over the last 12, reported the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, IBGE, on Wednesday. May's rate was 0.74%. Main price rises accounting for a third of June's inflation included 29.19% for plane tickets, 4.95% in water taxes and gambling rates, officials said.
Thursday, July 9th 2015 - 06:41 UTC
Chile's inflation picks up in June, despite persistent weak economic growth

Chile's inflation picked up and beat expectations in June despite persistently weak economic growth. The consumer price index rose 0.5% in June, as prices for transportation, housing and basic services increased, the government's stats agency said on Wednesday.
Thursday, July 9th 2015 - 06:29 UTC
Brics summit takes off in Russia with an agenda full of economic and political issues

Russian President Vladimir Putin met on Wednesday with his Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff at the Siberian city of Ufa, where the Brics group summit is taking place. Previously, Putin had met with president Xi Jinping (China); Jacob Zuma (South Africa) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the five countries that make up the group.
Thursday, July 9th 2015 - 06:18 UTC
Petrobras 'suspicious' activities could involve as much as 16bn dollars

Investigators with Brazil’s Finance Ministry say they have identified as much as US$16 billion worth of suspicious activity that may be part of a kickback scandal engulfing the state-owned oil company Petrobras.
Thursday, July 9th 2015 - 06:10 UTC
Greek banks to remain closed until next Monday as ECB caps funding

The European Central Bank capped the amount of emergency funding it is providing to the Greek banking sector at €88.6 billion on Wednesday, in a sign that the central bank is awaiting the outcome of this weekend’s crunch talks on Greece before deciding whether to extend a further financial lifeline to the indebted country.
Thursday, July 9th 2015 - 05:58 UTC
China markets' volatility slide spreading to the rest of Asia

Mainland Chinese shares continued to head lower on Thursday, leading the rest of Asia down as concerns over the market's steep slide spread. The benchmark Shanghai Composite was down 3.6% to 3,380.31 points despite aggressive measures by regulators such as banning big investors from selling stocks to boost the flagging market.
Thursday, July 9th 2015 - 05:44 UTC
New York Stock Exchange down for three hours due to a technical fault

Trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wednesday restarted after being suspended for more than three hours due to a technical fault. The NYSE has yet to give full details of the problem, but emphasized that it was not the result of a cyber hack. Other exchanges, including Nasdaq, reported no problems and were trading normally.
Thursday, July 9th 2015 - 03:33 UTC
All United Airlines grounded for almost two hours because of computer problems

All United Airlines flights were grounded for almost two hours early Wednesday due to a computer hardware problem, creating travel headaches for tens of thousands of passengers that stretched into the afternoon. United said 800 flights had been delayed, with four flights canceled on its main carrier and 55 on its regional partners. A similar situation happened on 2 June when United flights were also grounded due to “automation issues.”
Thursday, July 9th 2015 - 02:55 UTC
Italy's MSC Cruises with 'Opera' becomes first major line to homeport in Cuba

Italian owned MSC Cruises will be the first major cruise line to homeport in Cuba, with the 2,120-passenger MSC Opera embarking on week-long cruises from Havana starting December 22, reports Travel Weekly.