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Montevideo, December 22nd 2024 - 02:14 UTC

Stories for May 2016

  • Monday, May 30th 2016 - 07:03 UTC

    Australia enforces low sulfur fuel regulations: Carnival cruise fined

    The Pacific Jewel, breached new low sulfur fuel regulations in Sydney Harbor, following a fuel sample taken by the ship’s crew and provided to EPA officers

    Australia’s Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has fined Carnival PLC US$15,000 after one of its P&O Cruises ships, the Pacific Jewel, breached new low sulfur fuel regulations in Sydney Harbor. A fuel sample taken by the ship’s crew and provided to EPA officers while the ship was berthed at the White Bay Cruise Terminal on February 26, 2016 had a sulfur level of 0.293%, nearly three times the 0.1% sulfur limit.

  • Monday, May 30th 2016 - 06:49 UTC

    Petrobras faces “tens of billions of dollars” in claims in US court; trial opens in September

    “We are seeking multiple tens of billions of dollars,” says lead counsel Jeremy Lieberman of Pomerantz, New York law firm leading the charge against Petrobras.

    Petrobras will finally get its day in a U.S. court on Sept. 19 in a trial that pits 18 former executives and 13 investment banks, including J.P. Morgan Securities, against U.S. and U.K. investors. Claimants are seeking “tens of billions of dollars” in losses from the Brazilian oil and gas giant.

  • Sunday, May 29th 2016 - 14:28 UTC

    World health experts call for Rio Olympics to be postponed or moved given Zika spread fears

    “The Brazilian strain of Zika virus harms health in ways that science has not observed before,” the letter said.

    More than 100 health experts have called for the Rio Olympic Games to be postponed or moved because of fears that the event could speed up the spread of the Zika virus around the world, according to a public letter published online.

  • Sunday, May 29th 2016 - 14:18 UTC

    British tourists target holidays in Spain and Portugal instead of Egypt and Tunisia

    ABTA cited figures showing that bookings to Portugal were up 29%, while Spain was up 26% and Cyprus increased 18% compared to last year.

    More British tourists are set to spend their summer holidays in Spain and Portugal as demand for sunshine breaks in Tunisia and Egypt declines over fears of violence, travel agents said. Trade body the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) cited figures showing that bookings to Portugal were up 29%, while Spain was up 26% and Cyprus increased 18% compared to last year.

  • Sunday, May 29th 2016 - 13:06 UTC

    Superbug in US: Doctors fear it could herald a post-antibiotic era

    The recently discovered antibiotic-resistant gene, known as mcr-1, has also been found in China and Europe.

    A superbug resistant to all known medications has been found in the United States for the first time, raising new concern about the dwindling effectiveness of antibiotics, the top US public health official said this week. . The case involved a 49-year-old woman in Pennsylvania whose urinary tract infection tested positive for a strain of E. coli that is resistant to the antibiotic of last resort for such infections, known as colistin.

  • Sunday, May 29th 2016 - 12:58 UTC

    Chile has cleared 140 of 194 minefields; by 2020 the territory should entirely free

    “The number of minefields in Chile was 194, it's down to 140, which means 54 are pending, in the regions of Antofagasta and Magallanes”, revealed Colonel Ventura.

    Chile has cleared 72% of minefields in its territory, and expects to have finished the task by March 2020, according to the head of the country's De-mining Committee Army Colonel Rodrigo Ventura.

  • Sunday, May 29th 2016 - 08:23 UTC

    “Modern Times”, robots rapidly replacing workers in electronics factories

    Xu Yulian, head of Kunshan region PP.RR., said: “More companies are likely to follow suit.” China is investing heavily in a robot workforce.

    Apple and Samsung supplier Foxconn has reportedly replaced 60,000 factory workers with robots. One factory has “reduced employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000 thanks to the introduction of robots”, a government official told the South China Morning Star.

  • Saturday, May 28th 2016 - 08:25 UTC

    Net migration to UK, 333.000 in 2015, provides more ammo to the Leave campaign

    “The system has spun out of control,” Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson, the former London mayor said in a statement.

    Campaigners wanting Britain to leave the European Union warned that immigration has “spun out of control”, as the new mayor of London launched his campaign for the country to stay in the bloc. Four weeks before the so-called Brexit referendum on June 23, the Office for National Statistics published data putting net migration - the difference between those arriving and leaving Britain - at 333,000 last year.

  • Saturday, May 28th 2016 - 08:04 UTC

    Operation Condor condemns Argentine ex dictator and 14 top military officers

    Bignone, 88, the highest ranking figure on trial, was sentenced to 20 years in jail. Fourteen of the remaining 16 defendants got eight to 25 years behind bars.

    Former Argentine dictator Reynaldo Bignone and 14 other ex-military officials were found guilty by an Argentine court on Friday of conspiring to kidnap and assassinate leftist dissidents as part of the Operation Condor program. Bignone, 88, the highest ranking figure on trial, was sentenced to 20 years in jail. Fourteen of the remaining 16 defendants got eight to 25 years behind bars. Two were found not guilty.

  • Saturday, May 28th 2016 - 07:46 UTC

    British Pavilion at Uruguay's main agriculture show, Expo Prado, next September

    Ambassador Lyster-Binns said the aim is to promote UK exports and provide UK companies in Uruguay a platform to sell and promote their products or services.

    At a breakfast at the residence of Ambassador Ben Lyster-Binns on May 25th, the British Embassy in Montevideo and the Rural Association of Uruguay (ARU) presented the proposal for the British Pavilion at Expo Prado 2016. Representatives of several companies that have ties with the UK, many of which already formed part of the pavilion in 2015 and 2014, attended the event.