
LAN (NYSE: LFL), Chile's dominant airline and flag carrier, announced Thursday it would invest 2.83 billion US dollars between 2010 and 2013 to expand its fleet. CEO Jorge Awad told a shareholder meeting the company would invest 500 million USD in 2010 and 1 billion USD in 2011 to purchase both short and long-haul aircraft.

The University of Chile reported Monday a Santiago unemployment rate of 10.8%. While this is higher than what it was before the international recession (when it stood at around 8%), it is two percentage points less than what it was in March of 2009.

If a senior Iranian cleric is to be believed, the 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Taiwan was a boobquake, not an earthquake. Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi warned last week that “women, who do not dress modestly... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which [consequently] increases earthquakes”.

Chilean scientists working next to US Geological Service (USGC) peers are mapping areas of the country devastated by the February 27 earthquake to determine how much has changed geographically.