Mercosur

• Thursday, January 26th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Uruguay with record export and tourism in 2005

  Uruguayan exports reached a record value of 3.493 billion US dollars last year, reports the Central Bank. This represents 14.6% over 2004, when the country began to consolidate following the 2002/03 financial crisis.

• Thursday, January 26th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  World tourism forecasted to grow 4/5% in 2006

  The Madrid-based United Nations World Tourism Organization, UNWTO, expects world tourism, as measured by international arrivals, to grow by between 4 and 5% in 2006. In 2005 world tourism rose 5.5% to 808 million international arrivals from 766 million in 2004.

• Thursday, January 26th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  FDI to Latinamerica reached 72 billion US dollars

  Foreign direct investment, FDI, worldwide surged to an estimated 897 billion US dollars in 2005, 29% from the preceding year, and a four-year slump in flows to developed countries was sharply reversed with an estimated 72 billion US dollars going to Latinamerica according to a UNCTAD report released this week.

• Thursday, January 26th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Human Rights Watch blasts Colombia and US

  Colombia, the largest recipient of United States aid in the Western Hemisphere, “presents the most serious human rights and humanitarian situation” in Latin America, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2006.

• Thursday, January 26th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  IMF praises Uruguay's “sound economic policies”

  The International Monetary Fund, IMF, praised Uruguay's “sound economic policies” which have contributed to a strong recovery and expressed support for the deep fiscal reforms the government is undertaking.

• Thursday, January 26th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Spain denies it's the worst CFP offender

  Spain's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food's (MAPA) Maritime Fisheries General Secretariat said that offences against the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) mentioned in a report released by the European Commission (EC) refer to data gathered in 2003.

• Thursday, January 26th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Spain gets tough on illegal fishing

  Spain will tighten surveillance of its fishing fleet in an attempt to stop illegal fishery practices and overexploitation of the resources both in national and international fishing waters.

• Thursday, January 26th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Gibraltar in Madrid Tourism Exhibition

  The Gibraltar Tourist Board is currently exhibiting at the 26th edition of FITUR (Feria Internacional de Turismo) in Madrid this week, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Thursday, January 26th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Major Maersk investment in Algeciras port

  MAERSK España, the Spanish subsidiary of Danish shipping giant Maersk will invest Euro 48 million this year in new cranes and container handling equipment for its dedicated terminal in Algeciras, across from Gibraltar.

• Thursday, January 26th 2006 - 20:00 UTC

  Pinochet's daughter on the run requests US asylum

  Lucia Pinochet, eldest daughter of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, has requested political asylum in the United States, the Chilean government said Wednesday.