Mercosur

• Thursday, February 1st 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  HMS Endurance to the rescue

  

  Ice patrol ship HMS Endurance has assisted with the rescue of 280 passengers and 50 non-essential crew from a cruise ship damaged off the Antarctic peninsula.

• Monday, January 29th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  All hands on deck for Golden Princess visit to Falklands

  

  Today the huge cruise liner Golden Princess made the first of a number of scheduled visits this year to Stanley (population around 2000) the neat, but tiny capital of the Falkland Islands.

• Sunday, January 28th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Dengue fever alert in Paraguay and north Argentina

  A case of dengue fever in the northern Argentine province of Formosa has health authorities on alert since a growing number of cases, some deadly, of the disease have been reported in neighboring Paraguay where an epidemics alert has been declared.

• Sunday, January 28th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Case of foot and mouth disease confirmed in Bolivia

  A case of foot and mouth disease, FAM, was confirmed this week in the east of Bolivia, the first in the country in the last three years and a half. Bolivia has since banned all exports of beef to the Andean countries, reports the press in La Paz.

• Sunday, January 28th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Lula and Kirchner ask Chavez not to “weaken” democracy

  Brazil's Lula da Silva and Argentina's Nestor Kirchner called on their Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez to avoid decisions that could “debilitate” democratic institutions in Venezuela reported the Brazilian press this Sunday.

• Friday, January 26th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Penguin News Update

  

  Headlines: Governor opens new west road; Sir Rex in June VIP party; Visitors galore; Hudson eruption fears; Mini Sports this weekend; FIDC's new chief arrives.

• Friday, January 26th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Chile banking industry “The most profitable in the world”

  

  Chilean banks were among the most profitable in the world in 2006, with profits of 18.56 percent in 2006, according to recent figures developed by Chile's Bank and Financial Institution Supervisory Board (SBIF).

• Wednesday, January 24th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Chile to face rise in gas; Chile works on reducing gas dependency

  

  Despite promises last year that gas prices would remain stable in coming months, gas supply company Energas announced Tuesday that prices are to increase by an average of 2.7 percent.

• Sunday, January 21st 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  South American leaders focus on poor

  South American leaders sought to refocus their fractured trade bloc last Thursday on the needs of the region's poor as Venezuela's outspoken president called for remaking Mercosur to fit his vision of “21st century socialism.”

• Saturday, January 20th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Mercosur: no mincing words

  

  Paraguay, the new temporary president of the Mercosur trade bloc, yesterday urged Argentina and Uruguay to solve their dispute about a pulp mill that has taken them to the World Court, on the last day of a two-day Mercosur summit in Rio de Janeiro marked by harsh squabbles between Venezuela and Bolivia on one hand and Colombia and Brazil on the other.