Stories for April 2009

Monday, April 27th 2009 - 14:00 UTC
Vaccination of the Americas campaign launched in Paraguay

Paraguay’s president Fernando Lugo and the Pan-American Health Organization, PHO, launched Sunday a new edition of the “Vaccination in the Americas” week which has the purpose of vaccinating 30 million people against a wide range of diseases that still ravage the region.
Monday, April 27th 2009 - 13:51 UTC
New hope for the “critically endangered” grey whales

Conservation campaigners are hailing a victory for the “critically endangered” grey whale. The groups have won agreement from some oil and gas companies in Russian waters to end seismic work, giving grey whales a chance to breed undisturbed.
Monday, April 27th 2009 - 13:47 UTC
Brazilian private sector divided over Venezuela and Mercosur

The congressional controversy in Brazil over the incorporation of Venezuela has moved to the business sector. A group of Brazilian businessmen have begun lobbying strongly for Venezuela’s full membership but the process has been stalled by Brazilian and Paraguayan law makers.
Monday, April 27th 2009 - 13:40 UTC
Port costs inhibit cruise industry warn Punta Arenas operators

Port authorities from Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile anticipate a complicated 2009/10 cruise vessel season which could mean 30 to 40% less visitors and a considerable drop in the number of calls.
Monday, April 27th 2009 - 12:01 UTC
Ecuador’s Correa re-elected; US dollar to remain as currency

President Rafael Correa of Ecuador claimed re-election victory Sunday minutes after the polls closed on Sunday, calling his apparent win “a day of joy” in which “we have made history”. He was quoted saying he would keep the US dollar as the country’s currency.
Sunday, April 26th 2009 - 19:26 UTC
Cruise ship “Melody” fended off a pirate attack

An Italian cruise ship carrying 1,200 passengers and crew fended off a pirate attack near the Seychelles, company officials said Sunday. The ship was attacked on Saturday evening by armed pirates firing shots from a small speedboat, 330 kilometres from the Seychelles where the liner had last anchored.
Sunday, April 26th 2009 - 17:12 UTC
Skate recovered three years after tagging in the Falkland's waters

THE fishery around the Falkland Islands is rich and diverse, with the main fisheries focussed on a variety of squid and finfish. Furthermore, the area is also widely inhabited by a number of skate species, a family closely related to sharks.
Sunday, April 26th 2009 - 08:56 UTC
World Bank-IMF open crisis talks

Senior officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are meeting in Washington with an aim to combat the world's worst economic slump since the 1930s.
Sunday, April 26th 2009 - 08:45 UTC
Mexico swine flu spreads overseas - Alert in airports

Mexico has raised the probable death toll from an outbreak of swine flu to 81, including 20 already confirmed.
Saturday, April 25th 2009 - 11:00 UTC
Voting before the going gets tough. The president of Argentina brings forward mid-term elections

A piece from The Economist Intelligence Unite Views Wire on Argentina’s coming mid term elections sets out the scenario of the day after, and its consequences for the ruling Kirchner couple and obviously Argentine stability.
An issue too sensitive to be openly addressed in Argentina, the article basically states the election has turned into a referendum on the still powerful Kirchners.
“A heavy defeat for the candidates and allies of the governing Frente para la Victoria (FV, a faction of the Peronist party) could well hasten the end of their power, increasing the risk that the president will not see out her term (due to expire in January 2012) and presaging a bumpy political transition”.