Stories for May 2016

Friday, May 20th 2016 - 10:40 UTC
India planning to swap medicines for Venezuelan crude oil to recoup losses of drugs sector

Indian drug companies could recoup some of the financial losses incurred as Venezuela struggles to make foreign-currency payments and the value of its currency plummets--by participating in a barter plan that would swap medicines for crude oil.
Friday, May 20th 2016 - 10:28 UTC
Argentina expected to export 25% fewer soybeans because of the extensive floods

Argentina could export up to 25% fewer soybeans this year than last, analysts said, after severe rains left many fields underwater, damaging oilseed quality. In April, floods inundated key farm areas of Argentina, the world's third-biggest exporter of raw soybeans, prompting the U.S. Department of Agriculture to slash its forecast for soybean output to 56.5 million metric tons this year.
Friday, May 20th 2016 - 10:17 UTC
Trump ahead of Hillary in new polls, but both candidates have record negatives

Donald Trump has pulled ahead of Hillary Clinton in two new polls, as Republicans begin to coalesce around him while Bernie Sanders keeps hammering fellow Democrat Clinton. The real-estate tycoon leads the former secretary of state, 42% to 37%, in a general-election presidential match-up, according to a Rasmussen poll released Thursday.
Friday, May 20th 2016 - 10:05 UTC
Macri in the threshold of a major political storm over a possible veto of a labor bill

Argentine president Mauricio Macri is expected to veto a controversial labor bill which was approved early Thursday after a marathon session in the Lower House of Congress. The bill passed with 147 votes in favor, 3 votes against it and 88 abstentions includes the declaration of the employment emergency during 180 days and a double compensation in the event of layoffs, for a period of six months.
Friday, May 20th 2016 - 06:48 UTC
Argentina reassures China bilateral cooperation remains a priority for the Macri administration

Argentina on Thursday sought to reassure China that bilateral cooperation remained a priority for its new government amid growing concerns over political changes in the South American country. After a meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra said investment projects with China would go ahead.
Thursday, May 19th 2016 - 12:15 UTC
Monsanto threatens to leave Argentina on a seeds' inspection dispute

The seeds' multinational Monsanto Co. said it would suspend future soybean technologies in Argentina, a move that could limit output of the country’s main cash crop, after a disagreement with the government over inspections of genetically modified soybeans.
Thursday, May 19th 2016 - 12:07 UTC
Brazilian Justice gives Rousseff ten days to reply the claims of “a coup”

Brazils Supreme Tribunal (STF) Justice Rosa Weber has given suspended president Dilma Rousseff ten days to explain her repeated statements that the impeachment process started against her is a “coup”. Rousseff is not obliged to respond. The STF decision follows a request from a group of lawmakers via the House's prosecution office.
Thursday, May 19th 2016 - 12:02 UTC
Minutes show Fed could be ready for an interest rate in June

Federal Reserve officials consider the United States economy could be ready for another interest rate increase in June, according to the minutes from the central bank's April policy meeting released on Wednesday. Most participants in the policy-setting committee's April 26-27 meeting said they wanted to see signs that economic growth was picking up in the second quarter and that employment and inflation were firming, the minutes showed.
Thursday, May 19th 2016 - 11:57 UTC
Meirelles unveils a dark picture of Brazil's finances and insists of pensions reform

Brazil's fiscal deficit prior to debt interest payments could reach 150 billion Reais (US$42.10 billion) this year as revenues collapse amid a crippling recession economy, Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles warned on Wednesday. The deficit includes eventual losses from state electricity holding Eletrobras.
Thursday, May 19th 2016 - 08:32 UTC
Mujica says Maduro is “mad as a hatter” and everybody in Venezuela “have gone nuts”

Uruguayan ex president Jose Mujica said on Wednesday that in Venezuela “everybody has gone nuts” and president Nicolas Maduro is “mad as a hatter”. The former leader was reacting to the controversy between his former foreign minister and now OAS secretary general, Luis Almagro and Maduro.