The Chamber of Commerce of Lima (CCL) is holding today its 8th International Summit on External Trade with the theme: "Seizing future markets: towards a new external trade system." 

Peru's President Ollanta Humala stressed Monday that in order to sustain the country's growth performance more professionals are needed to be integrated into the labor market, thus his administration has developed a comprehensive training and education plan. 

The European Parliament's (EP) Civil Liberties Committee approved on Monday removing the Schengen visa requirements for all citizens from Peru and Colombia, adding these countries to the visa-free list for short stays of up to 90 days.

MEPs said that citizens of Colombia, Peru and UAE must be able to visit EU without visas. The Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament, changed Commission's initial proposal envisaged a visa waiver only for citizens of five Caribbean island nations, 10 Pacific island nations and Timor-Leste.

Citizens of Colombia, Peru and the United Arab Emirates should be able to travel to the Schengen area without a visa, said the Civil Liberties Committee on Monday, amending a draft update of the EU visa regulation to this effect. The Commission's initial proposal envisaged a visa waiver only for citizens of five Caribbean island nations, 10 Pacific island nations and Timor-Leste.

In order to trace the migration of the methane oxidation front back over the last half million years, Dr. Sergio Contreras, a palaeoceanographer and his colleagues measured the barite, dolomite and archaeol content at high resolution in drill cores from the coast off Peru. These up to 200-meter-long cores from the Peruvian continental shelf were obtained during an expedition with the scientific drill ship JOIDES Resolution as part of the Ocean Drilling Program in 2002.  

Reuters reports that Peruvian officials are now vowing to take action against the fishermen who hunt and kill dolphins. Deputy Minister of Fisheries Paul Phumpiu told press that "We will pursue those committing these crimes [...] We are considering all forms of action, from bans and restrictions to - in extreme cases - the prohibition of (shark) commercialization."

Not long ago, I carried out an in-depth investigation on human trafficking and illegal mining in the Madre de Dios Region. I visited the area and witnessed the devastation caused by the informal and illegal mining activity. I interviewed victims of trafficking, spoke with traffickers themselves, talked with miners and met with a number of regional authorities.

Award winning chef, Jacinto Sanchez makes quinoa the star of the show for the San Isidro Country Club's Quinoa Month.

Back in Peru, what a pleasure it was to find out that the Perroquet at the Country Club in San Isidro, several times winner of the best hotel restaurant award, was celebrating the 'month of quinoa'. My palate was so ready to explore and indulge myself in the special menu offered by the award winning chef, Jacinto Sanchez, having quinoa as 'the star' and principal ingredient on the list. The special menu offers seven different dishes, ranging from several starters, salads, and soups, to main dishes; and we tried a few of them.

American news corporation CNN just named its favorite rivers for everything from spotting wildlife to white water rafting to leisure cruising and the Amazon River topped its list. The 4,000 mile-long (6,400 km) river winds through Guyana, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and, of course, Peru.

Despite the arrival of the raining season and its afternoon deluges, our spirits have yet to be dampened. In fact, it's been quite the opposite. These last few days have served to fuel further my love for the country and its dirt road touring potential. Ticlios, Llaclla, Mangas... a string of beautiful, welcoming, remote and high elevation villages linked by merest scraps of road and footpaths, painstakingly chiselled into the sheerest and most stark of mountain sides.

Following a brief 2-day stop in Lima, we arrived in Arequipa for the beginning of our 6-week stay in Peru. Our son, Jason, picked up a stomach bug on our travels from Costa Rica, so we wound up spending a few extra days letting him recuperate in this lovely city. 

A number of important and ancient artifacts will soon be on their way their way home to Peru. According to Andina news agency, the Swedish city of Gothenburg has agreed to return their collection of Paracas textiles to Peru. 

Blood pressure problems, leaked video footage, corruption charges - Fujimori is once again in the spotlight and as problematic as ever. 

Peru's former president Alberto Fujimori is back in court. Fujimori is already serving a long sentence for humans rights violations committed while he was in office. Now, he's facing charges for diverting S/. 122 million worth of funds from the Department of Defense to buy influence in Peruvian tabloid newspapers during his administration. 

The dishevelled appearance of former President Alberto Fujimori, appearing in court on Thursday for a new trial, triggered criticism in some of the press and across the social media, and anti-corruption prosecutor Julio Arbizu said he believes that Fujimori will be appealing to a "media show." 

Apple's Co-founder's creative mind has come up with all kinds of exciting inventions, but it's not just his products that inspire, as Carsten Korch discovers. 

He is not only co-founder of Apple, but he is also the brain that started the success of Apple back in the day, and made the first billion or two for the company. His name is Steve Wozniak, also called the Woz. 

Heavy rains and flooding in central Peru kill at least one person after rivers burst their banks. Rough Cut (no reporter narration). Click on the link.