Politics

Tuesday, August 12th 2014 - 06:24 UTC
Petrobras earnings down 20%; subsidized fuels strangling the company

Second quarter profits for Brazil's Petrobras dropped 20% compared to the same period one year earlier, the state-run oil giant said. Petrobras recorded profits of 4.96 billion Reais (about 2.22 billion dollars) in the quarter, compared to 6.2 billion Reais (nearly 3 billion) for the same period in 2013.
Tuesday, August 12th 2014 - 06:10 UTC
Venezuelan oil company begins operations with China’s Citic Bank

Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA has started using China Citic Bank to collect money from crude and fuel sales instead of Portugal’s Banco Espirito Santo, according to media reports in Caracas.
Tuesday, August 12th 2014 - 06:05 UTC
Mexico signs energy reform bills: now to wait for interested private companies

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed on Monday a package of landmark energy reform bills, ending the 76-year-old state monopoly on oil drilling and reopening the sector to foreign companies.
Tuesday, August 12th 2014 - 05:44 UTC
Brazilian government anticipates 6% hike in fuel prices, after October election

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff admitted on Monday the government could increase domestic fuel prices at refineries by up to 6% after the October presidential election. The increase of 5.5% and 6% is a preliminary calculation and is geared to help prop the finances of the government managed oil and gas giant Petrobras.
Monday, August 11th 2014 - 22:56 UTC
Falkland Islands and the saga of Sir Ernest Shackleton a century ago

One hundred years ago this month Sir Ernest Shackleton set sail from Plymouth on HMS Endurance at the beginning of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-17), also known as the Endurance Expedition.
Monday, August 11th 2014 - 22:24 UTC
Global economic recovery remains 'disappointing' says Fed's Vice Chairman

US Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said that the economic recovery has been and remains “disappointing” and made it clear that he expects monetary policy to continue to play a significant role in encouraging growth in the future.
Monday, August 11th 2014 - 22:19 UTC
Leading economies showing overall steady growth trend, says OECD

Leading economies are showing a steady growth trend overall, although Britain is doing particularly well and Japan and Germany are showing signs of losing pace, the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) said on Monday.
Monday, August 11th 2014 - 09:46 UTC
Brazil's Truth Commission looking into foreign companies helping the military regime crackdown on 'subversives'

Newly-discovered documents suggest big international companies aided Brazil’s military regime in its war against ‘subversives’ and union activists. Academics and human rights activists have long believed that local and multinational companies helped Brazil’s military regime in their crackdown on “subversives.”
Monday, August 11th 2014 - 07:55 UTC
Blatter challenges his critics to take the risk and stand for FIFA election

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has challenged his critics to “take the risk” and stand for election against him next year. Although he did not identify potential rivals in the ballot scheduled in May, he appeared to target UEFA President Michel Platini.
Monday, August 11th 2014 - 01:54 UTC
Argentina/holdouts, a clash between 'global financial power and political power'

A Judge from Argentina's Supreme Court joined the ongoing battle in New York between the Argentine government and the holdouts and slashed out at the US Supreme Court for rejecting to take the case back in June. Eugenio Zaffaroni argued that the conflict must be addressed in the context of “attacks from the global financial power on political power”.