
The price of crude oil is down some 8 percent since August 1. What the oil patch and every oil trader knows, one of the quickest ways to turn around this tumble is the drama of a good old fashioned hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico wending its way toward the Texas and Louisiana coasts. And Shazam! Here comes Hurricane Dean!

Headlines:
Soldiers take a rough ride; Ferry workshops highlight 'unknowns'; Education Director's praise for A Level students; Foot and Mouth: caution continues; Quake rocks Peru.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.9 struck off the coast of central Peru on Wednesday evening killing 337 people, injuring at least a thousand and triggering a tsunami warning for South America's central Pacific coast, according to the first reports from the media in the capital Lima.

The death toll rose to 500 on Thursday in the magnitude-8 earthquake that devastated cities of adobe and brick in Peru's southern desert. Public services collapsed, emergency operations are slow in delivering and rescue efforts seem minimal compared to the magnitude of the tragedy.

In a long anticipated reciprocity decision as of this Wednesday United States citizens will have to request visas to visit Bolivia. Earlier this year president Evo Morales said that all countries have dignity even small, underdeveloped countries as Bolivia.

The United States based Seafood Watch Program (SWP) has blacklisted Chilean seabass, advising U.S. consumers that the fish species is commonly exposed to mercury contamination. To prevent possible health risks, SWP suggests a significant decrease in Chilean seabass consumption, especially for children, who should be restricted to a maximum of one serving per month.

ON a Friday evening one could be excused for thinking that the Joint Services Explosive Ordnance (JSEOD) team would be winding down at the end of a busy week -
wrong.

Headlines:
Year 6 are Islands' first young lifesavers; Councillor's wages should not be an incentive to stand for election; Stay vigilant to prevent F&M entering Islands; New Senior Magistrate to take up post soon.

British company Seawind has filed the environmental impact report (EIA) for an ambitious renewable energy project that would create Chile's largest wind farm.

The presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia, and Argentina signed on Friday agreements to share costs of energy production and convened funding for the construction of a gas separation plant near Bolivia's border with Argentina.