Stories for 2015

Saturday, March 28th 2015 - 11:15 UTC
Brazil just managed to skim recession last year with 0.1% growth but is expected to shrink in 2015

Brazil's economy grew just 0.1% last year, barely keeping the country out of a recession, the government's statistics bureau said on Friday. It was the worst result since 2009 and bad news for President Dilma Rousseff, whose popularity has plummeted along with Brazil's economic performance.
Saturday, March 28th 2015 - 10:21 UTC
HMS Lancaster takes over from HMS Dragon in South Atlantic patrol tasking

Type 23 frigate HMS Lancaster sailed from her home in Portsmouth last week for a routine nine-month Atlantic patrol tasking, which includes the Falklands and South Georgia. She is the first ship in the Royal Navy to deploy with the new Wildcat helicopter, and her crew are wearing the newest naval uniform in 70 years.
Saturday, March 28th 2015 - 09:47 UTC
Falklands' conflict hypothesis: Argentine Mirages are banned from flying on cloudy days

The Argentine government and media agree that the country does not have the military capacity to attack the Falkland Islands as feared by Britain. A report in daily La Nacion points out the Argentine armed forces lack landing crafts, troop transport vessels and even the Mirage fighter planes are banned from flying on cloudy days because of repeated problems with their instruments.
Saturday, March 28th 2015 - 09:37 UTC
Germanwings pilot was under medical treatment but hid his condition

The pilot who crashed a plane in the French Alps had received a sick note from doctors showing he suffered a health condition that would have prevented him flying the day of the crash, which he apparently hid from his employer, German prosecutors said.
Friday, March 27th 2015 - 09:04 UTC
Argentine appeals court dismisses Iran-case accusation against Cristina Fernandez

Argentina's First Court of the Buenos Aires City Federal Appeals Court dismissed late prosecutor Alberto Nisman’s accusation that claimed President Cristina Fernández and other top officials had tried to negotiate impunity for the alleged Iranian masterminds of the 1994 AMIA Jewish community centre bombing.
Friday, March 27th 2015 - 08:57 UTC
Uruguay's economy expanded 3.5% in 2014, completing over a decade of sustained growth

Uruguay's GDP expanded a strong 3.5% during 2014 over the previous year, with positive activity in most sectors of the Mercosur member economy, according to the latest report from the Central bank. The result was in line with government officials expectations of 3% growth last year.
Friday, March 27th 2015 - 08:46 UTC
European clearing houses close trading bridges on Argentine law bonds

Clearing houses Euroclear and Clearstream have closed trading bridges on some 9.4 billion of Argentine bonds issued under the country's law. The action will prevent Euroclear customers from settling their trades with Clearstream clients and vice versa, but will not affect trading between customers belonging to the same clearing company, the same source said.
Friday, March 27th 2015 - 08:36 UTC
Another major corruption scandal hits Brazil, this time fraud at the tax office

Brazilian authorities on Thursday said they uncovered a tax fraud scheme at the Finance Ministry's tax appeals board that may have cost taxpayers up to 19 billion Reais (5.96 billion dollars).
Friday, March 27th 2015 - 08:31 UTC
Brazilian industry confident depreciation of the currency will help spur exports

Brazil's private sector believes the depreciation of the Real against the dollar can help spur a manufacturing sector recovery even though the business climate has been affected by the Petrobras scandal, an official with the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo, Fiesp, said.
Friday, March 27th 2015 - 08:23 UTC
Brazil's central bank forecasts economy will contract 0.5% and inflation climb to 7.9%

Brazil's economy will contract 0.5% in 2015 and inflation will climb to 7.9%, ending the year far outside the tolerance range, the Central Bank admitted on Thursday in its latest quarterly inflation report.