Mercosur

• Tuesday, August 29th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  China to invest US$5B in Venezuelan energy

  China will invest around US$5 billion in energy projects in Venezuela by 2012 as part of a plan to boost Venezuela's oil output, the country's energy minister told state television yesterday.

• Tuesday, August 29th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  World's oldest woman, 116, dies in Ecuador

  María Esther de Capovilla, the oldest person on Earth according to Guinness World Records, has died of pneumonia at 116, her granddaughter said.

• Tuesday, August 29th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Brazil teams up with NASA for aviation fuel

  Brazilian biofuel company, Tecbio, has linked up with NASA and US aerospace firm Boeing to develop a biokerosene aviation fuel, Tecbio's President Expedito Parente told a seminar yesterday.

• Tuesday, August 29th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Bolivia's Morales reshuffles energy sector

  President Evo Morales reshuffled Monday Bolivia's embattled energy sector by naming new heads at the government owned oil company YPFB and at the oil and gas regulatory office with the purpose of “consolidating the nationalization” process.

• Tuesday, August 29th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Spanish airlines considering flights to Gibraltar

  Regional airlines in Spain are considering the viability of operating flights to and from Gibraltar reports the Gibraltar Chronicle. Apparently at least two regional airlines have made preliminary inquiries with outside authorities.

• Tuesday, August 29th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Uruguay's trade deficit reached 273 million in six months

  Uruguay experienced a trade deficit of 273 million US dollars during the first half of this year according to a release from the Central Bank. Imports soared 25.1% reaching 2.15 billion US dollars and exports 16.2% totalling 1.87 billion.

• Tuesday, August 29th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile's national hero British roots celebrated in Richmond

  Local residents in Richmond United Kingdom, next to the Thames River joined Chilean nationals Tuesday to celebrate the 228th birth anniversary of Chile's national hero Bernardo O'Higgins.

• Tuesday, August 29th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Trade common currency in Mercosur's agenda

  Mercosur and associate member countries Finance ministers are scheduled to meet next Friday in Rio do Janeiro to address among other issues the possibility of issuing a common trade currency, which would eventually replace the US dollar.

• Tuesday, August 29th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Fed does not discard further interest rates hike

  The Federal Reserve is not discarding further hikes of the basic interest rate in the months ahead because an important risk of inflation persists, according to minutes of the last meeting.

• Tuesday, August 29th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  NYT warns on the rich/poor split in Mexico

  Mexico's populist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador should end the protests and pledge to respect the Federal Electoral Tribunal's final decision which has until September 6 to make public the definitive results of the July 2 presidential election, says The New York Times.