Get our news on your inbox! x

Remember me Forgot password

MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, November 21st 2024 - 18:56 UTC

Stories for January 2018

  • Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 - 10:12 UTC

    Brazil finished 2017 with a record trade surplus of US$ 67bn

    Economy Minister Henrique Meirelles said the improvement was owed to better “fiscal control, a freeze on public spending and reforms in general.”

    Brazil's road to economic recovery has passed another milestone with official data showing on Tuesday that the country finished 2017 with a record trade surplus 40.5% higher than in the previous year. The US$67 billion surplus was in line with market projections and within the US$65/70bn range forecast by the government.

  • Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 - 10:05 UTC

    “2017 was the safest year for aviation ever”

    To70 estimated that the fatal accident rate for large commercial passenger flights is 0.06 per million flights, or one fatal accident for every 16 million flights.

    Airlines recorded zero accident deaths in commercial passenger jets last year, according to a Dutch consulting firm and an aviation safety group that tracks crashes, making 2017 the safest year on record for commercial air travel. Dutch aviation consulting firm To70 and the Aviation Safety Network both reported there were no commercial passenger jet fatalities in 2017.

  • Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 - 09:52 UTC

    AI system beats cardiologists and oncologists in detecting heart diseases and lung cancer

    Another AI system is looking for signs of lung cancer. It searches for large clumps of cells called nodules.

    Researchers at an Oxford hospital have developed artificial intelligence (AI) that can diagnose scans for heart disease and lung cancer. The systems will save billions of pounds by enabling the diseases to be picked up much earlier. The heart disease technology will start to be available to NHS hospitals for free this summer.

  • Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 - 06:55 UTC

    Brazil purchases Royal Navy's fleet flagship helicopter carrier, HMS Ocean

    HMS Ocean is the UK’s only helicopter carrier and the fleet flagship of the Royal Navy. She is designed to support amphibious landing operations

    Brazil has now confirmed the purchase of British helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, according to a report in the UKdefensejournal. “We were informed by a source in the Brazilian defense community that the vessel has been sold for £84 million. Roberto Lopes has informed us that the purchase of HMS Ocean by the Brazilian Navy was confirmed within the last week by Brazilian Defense Minister Raul Jungmann”.

  • Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 - 06:36 UTC

    Argentina recalls when Malvinas Islands were “illegally” occupied by British forces

    The moment the British flag is raised in the Falklands in 1833, recalled in a stamp

    In advance of January 3rd, when Argentina recalls the date in 1833 in which allegedly British forces “illegally” occupied the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, the foreign ministry, Palacio San Martín, released a statement reaffirming its imprescriptible and inalienable sovereignty rights over the South Atlantic archipelago. This is the 185th anniversary of the event.

  • Tuesday, January 2nd 2018 - 11:19 UTC

    Busiest air route in North America is Mexico City/Cancun with 3.7m pax

    Mexico City Juarez/Cancun 1.295kms route in the twelve-month period to October 31, 2017, was at the top of the rankings. The average cost of a ticket was US$72.

    A new study shows that Mexico City to Cancun is the busiest air route in North America. Almost 3.7 million passengers traveled the 1,294 km journey between Mexico City Juarez and Cancun in the twelve-month period between November 1, 2016 and October 31, 2017, putting it at the top of the study’s rankings. The average cost of a ticket was US$72.

  • Tuesday, January 2nd 2018 - 11:13 UTC

    Panama Papers enable tax authorities worldwide to recoup US$ 500 million

    Last July, the German federal police agency announced it had bought the Panama Papers data. The agency conducted raids and has so far frozen two million Euros.

    More than US$500 million has been recouped by tax authorities worldwide after the Panama Papers revelations, first published in April 2016. Spain alone collected US$122 million after an investigation into the affairs of tax residents who had stockpiled money offshore. Among the countries represented in the Panama Papers data, a total of 15 – on three continents – have publicly commented on the amount of taxes recovered by tax authorities.

  • Tuesday, January 2nd 2018 - 11:07 UTC

    Airbus closes a deal for a 430 aircraft order valued at US$ 49.5bn

    The signed purchase agreement follows a Memorandum of Understanding among the parties announced at the Dubai Air Show in November.

    Airbus announced that it had finalized agreements with Indigo Partners and its four portfolio airlines for the purchase of 430 additional A320neo Family aircraft for ultra-low-cost airlines Frontier Airlines (United States), JetSMART (Chile), Volaris (Mexico) and Wizz Air (Hungary).

  • Tuesday, January 2nd 2018 - 11:03 UTC

    Berlusconi looks as kingmaker for 4 March general election; Merkel wished him good luck

    Currently the largest number of seats looks set to be taken by an alliance centered on Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia.

    Italians will head to the polls on 4 March in elections that look set to result in renewed instability and thrust former leader Silvio Berlusconi back to the centre of the political stage. Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni's cabinet set the date for the election after President Sergio Mattarella dissolved parliament.

  • Tuesday, January 2nd 2018 - 10:58 UTC

    Brexit: First quarter of 2018, “point of no return” for financial services industry

    HSBC has said it is on course to move up to 1,000 jobs to France where it already has a full service universal bank after buying up Credit Commercial de France

    The clock is ticking for the financial services industry, with banks said to be months away from being forced to act on Brexit contingency plans that could see thousands of jobs leave the UK. The first quarter of 2018 has been dubbed the “point of no return” for banks, insurers and asset managers as the industry calls on the UK to clinch a transition period that would extend market access to the EU beyond March 2019.