Chile

• Thursday, December 15th 2016 - 08:20 UTC

  Heat wave in Santiago breaks century old record, 37.3 Celsius

  

  A heat wave brought blistering temperatures to the streets of Chile's capital, Santiago, on Wednesday and broke a century-old record as thermometers reached 37.3 Celsius. Chile's meteorological service called the event extreme, while the health ministry advised residents to wear light clothing, drink water and avoid outdoor activities.

• Thursday, December 15th 2016 - 07:12 UTC

  Bachelet furious with Economy minister who accepted an inflatable sex doll as a Xmas gift

  

  A Twitter storm blew up Wednesday in Chile over a business association's Christmas gift to the economy minister: an inflatable sex doll “to stimulate the economy.” The X-rated doll was a gift from the Association of Manufacturing and Services Exporters (Asexma) to Economy Minister Luis Felipe Cespedes at its annual dinner Tuesday night.

• Tuesday, December 13th 2016 - 08:49 UTC

  First loan for an Andes tunnel to connect Argentina with Chile as part of Mercosur road net

  

  The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a US$40 million loan that will allow for bidding to begin for the Agua Negra tunnel, which will connect San Juan province in Argentina with that of Coquimbo in Chile. The tunnel is key to improving trade integration between the two countries and the rest of Mercosur through a new corridor that will connect the Atlantic and the Pacific from Porto Alegre, Brazil, west to Coquimbo, Chile.

• Sunday, December 11th 2016 - 22:07 UTC

  Global de-mining conference in Chile concerned over growing use of improvised landmines

  

  The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention's Fifteenth Meeting of the States Parties (15MSP) concluded a week of work in Santiago, Chile, recording success in stockpile destruction with Poland announcing it had destroyed one million stockpiled landmines bringing to 158 the number of States that no longer hold stocks.

• Friday, December 9th 2016 - 10:53 UTC

  Argentina and Chile alternate in Antarctic Combined Naval Patrolling

  

  Argentina and Chile are already alternatively operating the Antarctica Combined Naval Patrolling, (PANC), which is responsible for maritime control and safety, including search and rescue missions, in the Southern Ocean particularly significant in summer months because of the increase in tourism traffic.

• Thursday, December 8th 2016 - 08:19 UTC

  Falklands: Chilean students to specialize in English living and working in the Islands

  

  Students from Chile are seeking work in both the Falkland Islands Government (FIG) and the private sector, including in Camp. Falklands' lawmaker MLA Barry Elsby said the students will have a good level of English when they arrive and will not need any formal English tuition.

• Tuesday, December 6th 2016 - 11:28 UTC

  LATAM Airlines to launch its longest nonstop flight ever between Santiago and Melbourne

  

  LATAM Airlines Group today announced it will operate a new, non-stop service between Santiago and Melbourne, Australia, from 5 October 2017. The westbound Santiago-Melbourne leg – measuring more than 11,000 km in distance with a flight time of approximately 15 hours – will become the longest non-stop flight in LATAM´s history.

• Tuesday, December 6th 2016 - 09:09 UTC

  Chilean economy contracts for the first time in seven years; minister blames “temporary factors”

  

  Chile's economy contracted for the first time in seven years in annual terms, as manufacturing and mining activity fell, potentially paving the way for the central bank to cut interest rates to spur growth. Economic activity fell 0.4% in October from the year-earlier month, the first annual contraction since October 2009, central bank data showed on Monday.

• Sunday, December 4th 2016 - 10:45 UTC

  Hudson volcano yellow alert in Patagonia: memories of the 1991 eruption

  

  The Patagonia territories of Chile and Argentina, Aysen region and Santa Cruz province are under yellow alert since Saturday evening given the growing seismic activity of the Hudson volcano. The alert is specifically referred to the towns of Los Antiguos and Perino Moreno, Argentina and the Chilean communes of Aysen, General Carrera, Rio Ibañez and Chile Chico in the Aysen Region.

• 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.