Economy

• Wednesday, January 16th 2013 - 05:54 UTC

  Record tourist arrivals in Chile during 2012: 3.5million. Target for this year: 4m

  

  Chile received a total of 3.5 million foreign tourists in 2012, a 13% hike over the year before and an all-time record. The 13% gain far outpaced the 6% increase that Latin America scored as a whole last year, Chile's deputy secretary for tourism, Jacqueline Plass, said.

• Wednesday, January 16th 2013 - 03:52 UTC

  Statement on Falklands expected from South Atlantic peace zone meeting

  

  Representatives from 21 African and South American countries are debating in Uruguay the consolidation of the South Atlantic as a zone free of massive destruction arms and its “improper militarization”, as a result of the growing tension between the UK and Argentina over the Falkland Islands.

• Tuesday, January 15th 2013 - 22:00 UTC

  Cuba admits 51 cholera cases in Havana; travel warnings from UK and US

  

  Cuba's Public Health Ministry on Tuesday acknowledged 51 new cases of cholera in the capital Havana amid growing concerns about the illness' spread and disappointment in the diplomatic community over the government's lack of transparency.

• Tuesday, January 15th 2013 - 06:49 UTC

  Battle over the debt ceiling rages; Bernanke warns economy still too weak

  

  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged US lawmakers to lift the country's borrowing limit to avoid a potentially disastrous debt default, warning that the economy was still at risk from political gridlock over the deficit.

• Tuesday, January 15th 2013 - 02:06 UTC

  Argentina’s inflation in 2012 climbed to 25.6% according to private agencies

  

  The 2012 twelve-month inflation in Argentina climbed to 25.6%, two times the figures registered by the official data from stats office Indec, according to the index presented by opposition lawmakers based in the analysis of nine private agencies.

• Monday, January 14th 2013 - 06:29 UTC

  Growing number of US states pushing to concentrate fiscal revenue on sales tax

  

  Attempts to overhaul the US federal tax system are fading in a divided congress in Washington, but in some state capitals, tax reform experiments - some far-reaching - are fast taking shape. Across the South and Midwest, Republicans have consolidated control of state legislatures and governorships, giving them the power to test long-debated tax ideas.

• Monday, January 14th 2013 - 06:20 UTC

  Twenty million US children, one in four, received food stamps in 2011

  

  One in four children in the United States participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, in fiscal year 2011, according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture and US Census Bureau.

• Monday, January 14th 2013 - 04:02 UTC

  Argentine government ‘dollar clamp’ suffers another court defeat

  

  A court in the Argentine province of Cordoba ordered the Banco Nación to sell US dollars to a teacher, after she was authorized by AFIP tax agency to purchase Brazilian Reais, but could not do so due to lack of currency.

• Monday, January 14th 2013 - 03:53 UTC

  “Where is the reconstruction money?” asks Haiti on third anniversary of devastating quake

  

  Three years after a massive earthquake ravaged Haiti, President Michel Martelly said on Saturday his country was slowly rebuilding, despite the ongoing day-to-day misery of many survivors and the still to be honoured promises of international aid and donations.

• Saturday, January 12th 2013 - 18:57 UTC

  P&O cruise line suspends stops in Argentina, confirms calls in the Falklands

  

  British cruise line operator P&O has scrapped stops in Argentina because of continuing tensions with the country over the Falkland Islands. Two of its vessels will no longer dock at three Argentine port destinations on around-the-world cruises. The decision was taken because there was no guarantee they will be able to dock.