Mercosur

• Friday, August 4th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Fidel Castro 'recovering satisfactorily'

  Cuba launched a campaign Friday emphasizing the revolutionary roots of Fidel Castro's brother and designated successor, attempting to reassure Cubans that the country remains stable after the leader's hospitalization.

• Friday, August 4th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Smog leveles force Santiago to declare pre emergency

  Santiago de Chile registered the year's highest level of smog Wednesday, leading authorities to declare a pre-emergency that lasted 24 hours. Air contamination dropped to a safe level Thursday due to a frontal system bringing higher humidity and better ventilation.

• Friday, August 4th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Markets speculate with “pause” in Fed's interest hike

  Currency markets are speculating that the US Federal Reserve would bring a pause to its cycle of interest rate hikes next week following the Friday release of July employment figures showing a considerable growth slow in jobs creation and earlier information of a cooling of the US economy.

• Thursday, August 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Brazilian military to aid stray penguins

  Brazil is staging a military operation involving a Hercules transport plane and Navy ships ? all to return four dozen wayward penguins to the icy waters of Antarctica, authorities said Wednesday.

• Thursday, August 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Tropical storm sweeps through Caribbean

  Tropical Storm Chris swept through the eastern Caribbean on Wednesday, forcing cruise ships to change course and tourists to evacuate small islands off the coast of Puerto Rico as it threatened to become the first hurricane of the Atlantic season.

• Thursday, August 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Air passenger traffic record for Chile

  Chile's airline industry set a historic record in June, welcoming more international traffic than any other year at this time, 287.966 passengers.

• Thursday, August 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Tropical Storm Chris sends natural gas price rising

  Natural gas prices soared on Wednesday, nearing a six- month high, on concern that Tropical Storm Chris would disrupt production in the Gulf of Mexico just as a heat wave in the eastern United States spurred record demand for electricity for air conditioning.

• Thursday, August 3rd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  ”Do not vacation in Uruguay'

  Environmentalists in Gualeguaychú could stage campaigns aimed at changing the minds of fellow Argentines who plan to spend their summer holidays in Uruguay, a leader of the community group said yesterday.

• Wednesday, August 2nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Castro says his health is stable following stomach surgery

  Cuba's President Fidel Castro declared himself to be in good spirits and stable condition following stomach surgery.

• Wednesday, August 2nd 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Antarctic beauty masks damage to ozone layer

  The rare nacreous cloud, top, is seen high in the stratosphere some 20 kilometres above Australia's Mawson station in Antartica.