Environment

• Wednesday, August 3rd 2011 - 02:53 UTC

  Uruguay disappointed with Indian group downgrading iron-ore project priority

  

  The Uruguayan government was taken aback by the announcement that the Indian iron-ore mining group Zamin Ferrous has decided to downgrade the priority of its several hundred millions dollar project in Uruguay from position one to four.

• Tuesday, August 2nd 2011 - 15:31 UTC

  “Empress of Uruguay”, world’s largest amethyst geode vandalized

  

  The 2.5 tons Empress of Uruguay is slightly less impressive after a tourist pinched a piece of the world's largest amethyst on show in Queensland, Australia.

• Tuesday, August 2nd 2011 - 12:50 UTC

  Spanish group receives soft funding to expand wind farms in south of Brazil

  

  Spain’s Elecnor group is building more wind power plants in Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul totalling an estimated 300 MW. The undertaking was boosted by funding from Brazil economic and social development bank, BSDES)

• Monday, August 1st 2011 - 22:51 UTC

  Uruguay/Argentina summit will address canal dredging and power transmission

  

  The dredging of the Uruguay River and access to the Martin Garcia canal as well as importing power from Paraguay are the two main issues of the agenda to be addressed by Presidents Jose Mujica and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner when they meet Tuesday in Buenos Aires.

• Monday, August 1st 2011 - 20:40 UTC

  Polar front freezes Argentina and Uruguay with below zero temperatures

  

  A polar front advancing over Argentina and Uruguay dragged the thermometers Monday morning in yet another freezing day in the south of the continent. Below zero temperatures were registered in several locations reaching minus 16,2 Celsius in Malargüe, Mendoza Province, according to Argentina’s Meteorological Service (SMN).

• Thursday, July 28th 2011 - 11:34 UTC

  Volcanic ash cloud dissipates and Buenos Aires airports return to normal activity

  

  Activity in Buenos Aires Metropolitan airport slowly resumed its normal pace on Wednesday as Aerolíneas Argentinas, Austral and Lan airlines announced they resumed their operations, after cancelling them due to volcanic ash cloud.

• Tuesday, July 26th 2011 - 19:13 UTC

  Brazil second scientific station in Antarctica, 500 km from the South Pole

  

  Brazil is planning to set up its second scientific station in Antarctica and its first fully automatic data collecting module close to the Southern pole, revealed Jefferson Simoes coordinator of the country’s National Science and Technology Institute.

• Tuesday, July 26th 2011 - 08:09 UTC

  First commercial bio-fuel flight in Latam between Mexico City and Chiapas

  

  The Mexican airline Interjet has successfully conducted the first commercial bio-fuel flight in Latin America, using a jatropha-based fuel that reduces air pollution by 80%, according to company officials.

• Monday, July 25th 2011 - 22:10 UTC

  Chile’s Comptroller clears Piñera of conflict of interest in Patagonian coal mine

  

  Opposition to the Isla Riesco coal-mining project in the extreme south of Chilean Patagonia suffered a setback Thursday when Chile’s Comptroller General rejected accusations of a conflict of interest at the highest level of government.

• Thursday, July 21st 2011 - 10:04 UTC

  Parts of Chilean Patagonia covered by nine feet of snow; 6.500 feared isolated

  

  President Sebastián Piñera declared much of La Araucania in Chilean Patagonia, disaster areas on Wednesday, as four days of non-stop snowfall have isolated the region’s predominantly rural communities and wreaked havoc on basic utilities.