Metal thieves hurt LatAm economies
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Copper exports have surged in this Caribbean nation with no active copper mines &#151; thanks to thieves who plunder power and telephone lines.
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Nicaragua has found thousands of anti-personnel mines left over from its 1980s-era civil war, ending hopes of declaring the country safe from the weapons this year.
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An internal investigation finds signs of money laundering by employees, including efforts to prevent seizure by investors after the Argentine government defaulted on bond payments.
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Thieves stole two diamonds worth almost Â£8 million yesterday from a dealers&#39; show at the Louvre museum complex in Paris. Police blamed lax security after the thieves broke into a display case on a stand operated
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Thieves in Brazil steal two paintings said to be worth $100m (Â£50m), including a work by Pablo Picasso.
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Colombia destroyed around 7,000 land mines on Sunday, in efforts to implement the Ottawa Convention that bans the use of antipersonnel mines, according to local reports.
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In this gritty border town known as a haven for drug smugglers, arms dealers and counterfeiters, stacks of money change hands in the open on every corner and thousands of people each day stream across Friendship Bridge into Ciudad del Este. They carry packages on their backs, in wheelbarrows or on carts, and border police stop few.
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As the euro and other currencies climb into rarefied territory, exporters are expressing more and more fear about how it will affect their businesses.
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A gang of armed robbers from the former Soviet Union took in more than &#36;1 million from heists including the robbery of a Manhattan jewelry store, according to court documents released Monday.
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By Jason Webb BOGOTA, Colombia  - Colombia may recover itslong-lost status as a significant gold producer thanks toimproved security and a rebound in prices, which have allowed aCanadian company to reopen a mine troubled by rebels.
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Thanks mostly to a robust economy, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been coasting to re-election victory in two months. But a new threat is rising.
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Border Patrol efforts to fight back against smugglers who pelt them with rocks and ball bearings over the border fence are reported to be taking a toll on innocent local residents, raising many a hackle.
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A decade after Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay sealed a trade deal amid grandiose visions of transforming South America into a single economic bloc, officials representing the Mercosur nations are returning amid mounting criticism to the same colonial Brazilian town where the historic agreement was signed.
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Counterfeiting and piracy costs the global economy at least 100 billion dollars (77 billion euros) each year, the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation warned.
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Counterfeiting is a dangerous and growing enterprise controlled by organized criminals who are exploiting the same trade routes used for trafficking drugs, arms and human beings, the United Nations said in a report released Friday.
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PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia  - Gold miners on Russia's Kamchatka peninsula contend with volcanic eruptions, floods and poor infrastructure, but high metal prices mean the hard work pays off.
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Cubans jammed banks and exchange kiosks to swap their dollars for local pesos on Thursday, as the communist government, retaliating for tightened sanctions, moved