Stories for December 2016

Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 10:43 UTC
Brazilian sources say Venezuela's suspension from Mercosur to be announced Friday

Nicolas Maduro's Venezuela has been suspended from the Mercosur regional trade bloc for failing to meet its membership requirements, a Brazilian government source revealed Thursday. And the official announcement is to be made Friday, which could not be corroborated in Buenos Aires' diplomatic circles.
Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 09:59 UTC
Chapecoense in denial Lamia was a bad choice, CONMEBOL not to blame for it either

The airline “has all the requirements that Chapecoense sought for its international trips,” a spokesman for the Chapecoense football club in western Santa Catarina said Thursday. A British Aerospace 146 - RJ 85 of the Bolivian charter airline Lamia, carrying the club's team to play the first leg of the South American Cup final against Atletico Nacional, crashed Monday night on approach to Medellin's Jose Maria Cordova international airport, killing almost everybody onboard.
Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 09:33 UTC
Hollande will not run for re-election; conservative Fillon calls it a lucid reaction “to failure”

French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday he would not seek a second term in next year's presidential election, a surprise move that clears the way for an alternative left-wing candidate, most probably his prime minister Manuel Valls.
Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 09:09 UTC
New Zealand sends patrol vessel to help combat illegal fishing in Ross Sea

Patrol vessel HMNZS Wellington departs on Sunday for the Southern Ocean from Dunedin to monitor the annual fishing season in the Ross Sea region in an attempt to stamp out illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the area.
Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 08:56 UTC
Peruvian aquaculture expanding at an annual 20% rate

Aquaculture activity grows at an annual average of more than 20% in Peru, ranking among the countries with the greatest increase of this activity in Latin America.“Our country is an important player in the supply of inputs for the world’s aquaculture industry, it is not foreign to the growth trends that this activity presents in the world. We changed from a production of 6,596 tons in the year 2000 to 115,271 tons in 2014,” said Vice Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Hector Soldi.
Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 08:43 UTC
Italy's referendum could knock out Rienzi and unleash a financial volcano

The focus of the news from Italy this weekend will be political: there's a referendum on constitutional reform and the Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, has said he will resign if the proposals are rejected. This could be followed by new elections which could in turn benefit the Five Star Movement, an anti-Euro group led by the former comedian Beppe Grillo.
Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 08:31 UTC
Prince Cruise Lines fined US$ 40 million for dumping waste off England

A US cruise liner is to pay a record fine of US$40m for dumping oil-contaminated waste, the US Department of Justice has said. The investigation into Princess Cruise Lines followed a tip-off that the company had illegally discharged oily waste off the coast of England in 2013.
Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 07:58 UTC
Strong interest for Falklands' squid licenses, despite poor catches in 2016

Despite a dismal last season for Illex fishing in the Falkland Islands, with very low catches, interest in licenses for the coming season is holding up and the process is likely to be oversubscribed, confirmed MLA Phyl Rendell last week.
Thursday, December 1st 2016 - 19:56 UTC
Magallanes Region, extreme south of Chile with the best third quarter performance

Magallanes Region, in the extreme south of Chile, was the region with the strongest economic activity during the third quarter compared to the same period a year ago. Magallanes was closely followed by the regions of Tarapacá and Atacama to the north of the country, according to the latest release from the stats office, INE.
Thursday, December 1st 2016 - 18:26 UTC
Temer admits Brazil “lacks solid institutions”, but foreigners are eager to invest in the country

President Michel Temer said that “Brazil doesn’t have solid institutions” and that is why, “small factoids” menace the country’s institutional framework. Temer made such statements during an event Monday evening with private businessmen.