Mercosur

• Wednesday, May 17th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Sao Paulo back to normal; residents blame Judiciary

  After four days of organized gang attacks and a ferocious police backlash with a primary death toll of 115, including 49 police officers, the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo seemed on Wednesday to be returning to normal.

• Wednesday, May 17th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Brazilian farmers take to the streets to protest

  Thousands of small farmers took to the streets in several Brazilian cities to protest President Lula da Silva's administration tight credit policy and to demand better living conditions for the country's millions of peasant families

• Wednesday, May 17th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  US consumer prices rising at an annualized 5.1%

  United States consumer prices index rose 0.6% in April, the highest in three months and core inflation which does not include energy or food costs 0.3%, according to the latest release from the US Labour Department.

• Wednesday, May 17th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  One out of three Chileans fearful of leaving homes

  One out of three Chileans prefer not to leave their houses fearing the actions of criminals, according to the latest survey from the Santiago Freedom and Development Institute released this week.

• Tuesday, May 16th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Center-right boycotts Bolivian's speech to EU parliament

  President Evo Morales of Bolivia told the European Parliament in Strasbourg Monday that nationalization of the country's natural resources was not a matter of expropriation or expulsion.

• Tuesday, May 16th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  U.S. bans arms sales to Venezuela

  The United States is imposing a ban on arms sales to Venezuela because President Hugo Chavez's leftist government is not supporting counterterrorism efforts, State Department officials said Monday.

• Tuesday, May 16th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Bush calls for troops to boost border patrol

  President Bush on Monday laid out a plan to shut off illegal immigration by dispatching up to 6,000 National Guard troops to the Mexican border.

• Tuesday, May 16th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Oil, metal prices tumble

  Oil fell under US$ 70 a barrel, gold dropped almost four percent and copper plunged yesterday as investors feared a rally that has taken many commodities to or near record highs may slow economic growth.

• Tuesday, May 16th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Chilean Central Bank leaves rate unchanged at 5%

  Chile's Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at 5% this month in the hope of slowing inflation. The action was widely foreseen by experts in the marketplace.

• Tuesday, May 16th 2006 - 21:00 UTC

  Vietnamese fishermen adrift rescued in Magellan Strait

  Two Vietnamese crewmembers found Monday floating adrift in the icy Magellan waters and currently in Punta Arenas hospital are Vietnamese who voluntarily jumped overboard from a Taiwanese vessel according to local Prosecution sources.