Latin America

• Wednesday, August 12th 2015 - 08:25 UTC

  Sargassum bloom are ruining Caribbean beaches and tourism season

  

  The picture-perfect beaches and turquoise waters that people expect on their visits to the Caribbean are increasingly being fouled by mats of decaying seaweed that attract biting sand fleas and smell like rotten eggs.

• Friday, August 7th 2015 - 06:19 UTC

  Falklands' claim and sea access for Bolivia in the same package for Evo Morales

  

  The Argentine government should support with 'determination' Bolivia's sea outlet claim to Chile, because if successful it will be so much easier for Argentina to recover the Falklands/Malvinas Islands, said Bolivian president Evo Morales in an interview.

• Wednesday, August 5th 2015 - 08:13 UTC

  Galapagos penguin numbers recovering with shifts in trade winds and ocean currents

  

  Shifts in trade winds and ocean currents powered a resurgence of endangered Galapagos Penguins over the past 30 years, according to a new study led by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). These changes enlarged a cold pool of water the penguins rely on for food and breeding-an expansion that could continue as the climate changes over the coming decades, according to the study.

• Tuesday, August 4th 2015 - 05:49 UTC

  ExxonMobil rig concludes exploration offshore Guyana: resumes seismic studies

  

  An ExxonMobil rig that re-ignited a maritime boundary dispute between Guyana and Venezuela has now left the area, a Guyanese official said on Monday, but denying it was because of Venezuelan pressure.

• Tuesday, August 4th 2015 - 05:35 UTC

  Puerto Rico declared on default by Moody's after failing to make debt full payment

  

  Puerto Rico's Government Development Bank announced Monday that it was only able to make a partial payment on its Public Finance Corporation (PFC) debt service due over the weekend. In response to the non-payment of the full service, credit rating agency Moody's said it viewed the situation as a default.

• Thursday, July 30th 2015 - 22:31 UTC

  UK Overseas Territories agree on a 'unified front' for December's JMC in London

  

  Leaders of several British Overseas Territories meeting in Bermuda released a joint statement following a Pre-Joint Ministerial Council two-day meeting held last week in Hamilton. The goal of the international gathering was to discuss matters of common interest in order to present a unified front next December at the JMC in London.

• Thursday, July 30th 2015 - 22:28 UTC

  For the sixth straight time, Brazil raises interest rate 50 points to 14.25%

  

  Brazil's central bank raised interest rates to 14.25% from 13.75% as expected on Wednesday, delivering another hefty increase to stifle inflationary risks from a sharp depreciation of the local currency. This is the highest rate since October 2006.

• Thursday, July 30th 2015 - 09:39 UTC

  Brazil's agriculture minister optimistic about a Mercosur/EU trade accord by end of the year

  

  Brazil' minister of agriculture Katia Abreu said she was very optimistic about Mercosur reaching a trade agreement with the European Union, and if there are problems look to Europe, because Mercosur members have almost agreed and finished their proposal.

• Wednesday, July 29th 2015 - 06:43 UTC

  Maduro formally requests UN mediation in border dispute with Guyana

  

  Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro said he asked U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for U.N. mediation in his country's century-old border dispute with neighboring Guyana. The controversy was discussed by Maduro and Ban at a meeting Tuesday morning in New York.

• Monday, July 27th 2015 - 06:18 UTC

  Peru's Humala begins his last year in office with defeat in congress and 80% disapproval

  

  Peruvian lawmakers elected an opposition legislator as head of Congress in a new but hardly unsurprising defeat for the ruling party and increasingly unpopular President Ollanta Humala who this week begins the last year in office. GfK polls indicate the president has a disapproval rating of 80%.