Stories for April 2024

Saturday, April 27th 2024 - 08:41 UTC
Venice combats massive tourism: day visitors will be charged a €5 fee

Venice started charging this week €5 (US$ 5.30) fee for day-trippers who are not staying overnight. Despite the launch of the scheme to curb mass tourism was postponed several times, it will now apply until mid July.
Friday, April 26th 2024 - 20:59 UTC
Thousands of layoffs feared in Argentina next month

Argentine SMEs fear a wave of sackings in the coming days due to President Javier Milei's policies which may have been somewhat successful at curbing inflation but at a cost. The Industriales Pymes Argentinos (IPA) chamber released a report saying that some 17,000 jobs had been lost since Milei took office on Dec. 10, 2023, and further suspensions and layoffs appear on May's radar.
Friday, April 26th 2024 - 20:06 UTC
Argentina's Central Bank lowers basic interest rates

Argentina's Central Bank (BCRA) this week lowered the benchmark interest rate by another 10 percentage points to 60% annually, it was reported in Buenos Aires. It was the fourth such cut since Javier Milei took office on December 10, 2023, when the rate stood at 133%. “BCRA announces that as of 04-25-2024, the rate for 1-business-day maturity passive operations will be 60%,” it said in a statement. It was also the second 10-point cut in April alone.
Friday, April 26th 2024 - 19:34 UTC
US sanctions: Cubana flights to Buenos Aires lifted after refueling is denied

As President Javier Milei's Argentina deepens its allegiance to the United States, Cuba's flag carrier Cubana lifted this week its regular service between Buenos Aires and Havana after fuel suppliers announced they would no longer be serving a company blacklisted from Washington in what seems like an encore of what happened to the Emtrasur Boeing 747-300 freighter flying under the Venezuelan flag following a spell with Iran's Mahan Air.
Friday, April 26th 2024 - 17:09 UTC
Alberto Fernández responds sternly to Milei's accusations: “My dog doesn't advise me”

Former Argentine President Alberto Fernández answered libertarian President Javier Milei, following remarks made by Milei during a speech at Fundación Libertad where he referred to Fernández as a “puppet”. Fernández's response, laden with irony and defiance, underscored his “commitment” to rational decision-making and dismissed allegations of being influenced by external forces.
Friday, April 26th 2024 - 15:41 UTC
Violence against news teams on the rise in Brazilian Amazon

Brazil's National Federation of Journalists (Fenaj) found that there have been 230 cases of violence against press freedom in the nine states of the Legal Amazon in the last ten years, Agencia Brasil reported. According to a study released this week, the State of Pará accounts for the largest number of violent acts against newspeople in the Amazon, with 89 cases recorded in a decade, followed by Amazonas (38), Mato Grosso (31) and Rondônia (20). The murder of English journalist Dom Phillips and indigenist Bruno Pereira in 2022 stands out among these events.
Friday, April 26th 2024 - 15:08 UTC
Colombian Army kills 15 rebels after failing peace talks

Colombia's Army this week gunned down 15 rebels from the EMC guerrillas, a dissident group from the old FARC operating in the department of Cauca that refuses to enter peace talks with Bogotá. “War is war,” President Gustavo Petro argued after the latest military update, meaning that these things happen when one of the parties leaves the negotiating table. Another 12 rogue fighters were wounded, it was reported.
Friday, April 26th 2024 - 10:56 UTC
Brazil to discourage steel imports?

Brazilian authorities announced this week that new measures will be in force concerning the import of steel products. In a move to discourage such practices, goods exceeding the quota of 11 items will be charged higher taxes, Agencia Brasil reported. In other words, if the maximum volume is exceeded, the import duty, currently ranging between 9% and 14.4%, will reach 25%, the Chamber of Foreign Commerce explained. The initiative seeks to prevent unfair competition with domestic steel.
Friday, April 26th 2024 - 10:40 UTC
Falklands: temporary suspension of Permanent Residence Permit applications

The Falkland Islands Customs and Immigration Service informed that the annual quota for applications has now been met for all Permanent Residence Permit applications (PRP).
Friday, April 26th 2024 - 10:01 UTC
World Penguin Day: 9 out of 18 species breed in UK Overseas Territories, RSPB report

April 25 is World Penguin Day, from the impressive 1.2m tall Emperor Penguins of the British Antarctic Territory to the smaller, agile Southern Rockhopper Penguins of the Falkland Islands – nine out of 18 penguin species breed in the UK Overseas and British Antarctic Territories. Follows a report from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, RSPB.