Mercosur

• Thursday, November 3rd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil confirms another ten FAM outbreaks

  Brazil confirmed the existence of ten new outbreaks of foot and mouth disease, FAM, but concentrated in a county of the state of Matto Grosso do Sul where the epidemic started in early October.

• Thursday, November 3rd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Unemployment in Chile drops to 8,5%

  Unemployment in Chile dropped to 8,5% during the July-September quarter from 9,7% in the same period a year ago, according to the latest release from the Statistics Institute.

• Thursday, November 3rd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Indian Defence minister visits Antarctic base

  Pranab Mukherjee became the first Indian Minister of Defence to visit Antarctica where he was taken by Chilean hosts last weekend.

• Thursday, November 3rd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Beware of uncooked shellfish

  Chile's Health minister Pedro García called on the population to abstain from consuming uncooked sea food because of the possible resurgence of the para-hemolytic vibrion which last year intoxicated 10,000 people.

• Thursday, November 3rd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Heavy fuel spill out of control threatens marine life

  Chilean legislators have called upon the government to declare the coast in the northern city of Antofagasta a catastrophe area following the oil spill by a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship which ran aground last Monday and apparently seems out of control.

• Wednesday, November 2nd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Illegal fishing fleets and convenience flags plundering the seas

  Illegal fishing fleets are plundering the seas and endangering depleted fish stocks by taking advantage of international rules by which they can adopt “flags of convenience” from other countries to provide a cover for their activities.

• Wednesday, November 2nd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Chavez forecasts Americas summit will “bury” FTAA

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez forecasted that the coming Americas Summit in Mar del Plata, Argentina will definitively “bury” the United States sponsored Free Trade of the Americas Association, FTAA.

• Wednesday, November 2nd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Bush's Americas Summit agenda: democracy and trade

  President George W. Bush described United States relations with Latin America as “good” and said his administration's polity is to be “good neighbours and good friends” with the region stressing upon the shared values of democracy.

• Wednesday, November 2nd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Insulza sees tough going for FTAA at summit

  OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza said in an interview published Wednesday that he believed it would be hard to make progress on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) at the Summit of the Americas, which will be held later this week in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

• Wednesday, November 2nd 2005 - 20:00 UTC

  Chavez challenges Bush to a FTAA debate

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said in Caracas he is willing to debate, during the coming Americas Summit in Argentina, with US president George Bush on the merits of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, FTAA.