Thousands take to streets in Argentina to protest economic woes (PHOTOS)

 

Aerial view of people gathering during a "cacerolazo" (a form of civilian protest where pots are used to make noise) against Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's government in Cordoba, Argentina on November 8, 2012 (AFP Photo)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/argentina-protest-march-government-304/

Thousands of Argentineans gathered in the streets of capital Buenos Aires to voice anger against the government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. The rally, reportedly the biggest in a decade, was organized on social networks.

­The protesters banged pots and pans as they rallied against soaring inflation and sky-high levels of crime and corruption. Many demonstrators also said that they were driven to protest by the prospect of President Fernandez seeking a third term in office.

The president’s supporters in Congress have lobbied for a constitutional amendment allowing Fernandez to run for a third consecutive term in 2015. President Fernandez was reelected to a second term in 2011, but her popularity has plummeted since she assumed office.

Protesters also spoke out against restrictions on the purchase of dollars that were introduced last year and ramped up this year. The new law has made it harder for Argentineans worried about inflation to trade in their currency.

Official data on inflation in the country puts the current rate at 12%, though some economists predict the actual figure is much higher.

The International Monetary Fund warned Argentina in September that the country could face sanctions if it fails to produce reliable growth and bring down inflation by December.

The Argentinean leadership has claimed that the economic crisis gripping the country is the result of a global recession, not government policy.

 

 

Image from instagram.com @sofidangavs

 

 

Image from twitter.com @AntonellaMarty

 

US fiscal cliff, eurozone crisis threaten global economy: IMF

 

The headquarters of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, the United States (file photo)

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/09/265689/imf-warns-of-global-econ-deterioration/

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the global economy could get worse due to the eurozone crisis and the US fiscal cliff in the future.

The warning came in an IMF report on Tuesday, ahead of the meeting of finance officials from the world’s leading economies, which will be held in Tokyo later this week.

"A key issue is whether the global economy is just hitting another bout of turbulence in what was always expected to be a slow and bumpy recovery or whether the current slowdown has a more lasting component…The answer depends on whether European and U.S. policymakers deal proactively with their major short-term economic challenges," the report read.

"In the United States, it is imperative to avoid excessive fiscal consolidation (the fiscal cliff) in 2013, to raise the debt ceiling promptly, and to agree on a credible medium-term fiscal consolidation plan,” it added.

The report also shows that the IMF has cut its growth forecast for global output in 2012 to 3.3 percent, down from a July estimate of 3.5 percent, with Asia still leading the group of expanding regions while the countries in the euro area witness a contraction this year by 0.4 percent.

IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard has also criticized European leaders and the US policymakers for the way they have handled the crisis.

"Worries about the ability of European policymakers to control the euro crisis and worries about the failure to date of US policymakers to agree on a fiscal plan surely play an important role, but one that is hard to nail down," Blanchard said.

Experts say 90 percent of American families are facing unprecedented tax increases because the country is headed toward the edge of what's being described as a fiscal cliff.

Meanwhile, various eurozone member states have been struggling with deep economic woes since the bloc's financial crisis began roughly five years ago.

The worsening debt crisis has forced EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries.

Huge ice island heading toward Canada

Greenland massive ice sheets (file photo)


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139361.html


A massive ice island - four times the size of Manhattan - which broke off an iceberg in northwestern Greenland is now heading towards Canada.


The ice island is expected to enter the Nares Strait, a region between far northeastern Canada and northwestern Greenland, where it might run into small islands and break into smaller pieces, AFP reported.

"The newly born ice island may become land-fast, block the channel, or it may break into smaller pieces as it is propelled south by the prevailing ocean currents," Andreas Muenchow at the US University of Delaware said.

Analyzing satellite images, the size of the ice island that was born on August 5 has been estimated at 250 to 300 square kilometers. It broke off the Petermann glacier which is one of Greenland's two largest glaciers.

The ice island is believed to hold fresh water that mounts to “all US public tap water flowing for 120 days."

Trudy Wohlleben of the Canadian Ice Service was credited with first detecting the ice island after raw data from a NASA satellite was analyzed. Muenchow carried out a research on the ice island later, focusing on the Nares Strait.

While the breaking of the massive ice piece has raised concerns among Canada's environmental officials, the country's meteorologists have rejected the possibility of threats posed by the ice island for ships or oil drillings along Canada's coast.

The ice island is expected to reach the Atlantic within two years.