Stories for December 2019

Monday, December 9th 2019 - 09:13 UTC
New Zealand volcano eruption surprises visitors from cruise ship Ovation of the Seas

Several people were injured at White Island in New Zealand when a volcano began erupting there on Monday, the region's mayor said. The eruption began about 2.30 pm local time on the island, about 50km from the east coast of North Island, authorities said, throwing smoke and debris into the air.
Monday, December 9th 2019 - 09:11 UTC
Australia on fire, waiting for heavy rains; Sydney blanketed in smoke and ashes

Thousands of firefighters were fortifying containment lines on Monday as temperatures were forecast to soar, increasing the danger of a fresh wave of bushfires across Australia's east coast. More than 100 fires remain ablaze in the region, and authorities warned conditions would worsen on Tuesday, when temperatures were predicted to top 40 degrees Celsius.
Monday, December 9th 2019 - 09:03 UTC
Cruise vessel adrift off Canary Islands after engine failure

A cruise ship that is operated by Carnival-owned P&O Cruises, based in the UK is back in Tenerife after having suffered a loss of propulsion and remained adrift until towed to port.
Saturday, December 7th 2019 - 10:25 UTC
Anniversary of the Battle of the Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands commemorates on Sunday 8th December the great Battle of the Falklands, 105 years ago, which ended with a resounding victory for the Royal Navy over the Kaiser's fleet.
Saturday, December 7th 2019 - 09:58 UTC
Fernandez unveils his cabinet and heterodox economic team with a growth led recovery plan

Argentine President-elect Alberto Fernandez unveiled his cabinet and new central bank chief on Friday evening, laying out his core team days before the center-left leader takes office facing a stalled economy, rising debt fears and painful inflation.
Saturday, December 7th 2019 - 09:50 UTC
Future Argentine economy minister is US trained and an academic expert in sovereign debt

Argentina’s Martin Guzman, a whiz-kid economist with close ties to influential U.S. economist Joseph Stiglitz, will bring a sharp academic intellect but little policy-making experience to the daunting task of reviving Latin America’s third-largest economy and averting a damaging default.
Saturday, December 7th 2019 - 09:49 UTC
Next Argentine agriculture minister sets warning alarms among farmers

The next agriculture, livestock and fisheries minister of Argentina, as anticipated by MercoPress, will be Luis Basterra, president-elect Alberto Fernandez confirmed on Friday, an appointment met with some scepticism by farmers worried about a possible revival of interventionist policies.
Saturday, December 7th 2019 - 09:46 UTC
Lower electricity and transport fares help to keep inflation almost unchanged in turbulent Chile

Chilean consumer prices barely budged amid unrest in November, the government said on Friday, with inflationary pressure from a downward spiraling peso offset by one-time cuts in electricity rates and public transportation fares.
Saturday, December 7th 2019 - 09:45 UTC
Bolsonaro and minister Moro clearly lead presidential opinion polls

If elections were held today in Brazil, president Jair Bolsonaro would be the clearly re-elected with the exception of two scenarios, if facing ex-president Lula da Silva, and current Justice minister Sergio Moro, according to a public opinion poll contracted by the magazine Veja.
Saturday, December 7th 2019 - 09:42 UTC
Argentina formally requests to exhume a collective grave at the military cemetery in the Falklands

The Argentine government has formally requested the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, for an expansion of the humanitarian project which has helped so far to identify the remains of 115 Argentine combatants buried at the Argentine Military Cemetery at Darwin in the Falkland Islands.