Politics

• Friday, July 12th 2013 - 08:08 UTC

  World banks lining up submissions for the nationalized 39% holding in Lloyds

  

  Top banks are putting their submissions to the UK Treasury to run a potential £20bn sale of the nationalised part of Lloyds Bank. Banks have until Monday to make their pitch to handle the sell-off of the government's 39% holding in Lloyds, with the sale of RBS, which is 81% owned by the taxpayer, to come later.

• Friday, July 12th 2013 - 08:00 UTC

  US posts unexpected budget surplus in June reflecting the improving economy

  

  US government posted an unexpectedly large budget surplus in June, a further sign of the rapid improvement in public finances that has taken the heat off Congress to find savings and raise the nation's borrowing limit.

• Friday, July 12th 2013 - 07:58 UTC

  World markets climb to new highs after US Fed confirms current stimulus policy

  

  US shares closed at record levels after the Federal Reserve indicated that its efforts to boost the economy would continue for now. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.1% higher at 15,460.92 and the broader S&P 500 added 1.3% to end at a new peak of 1,675.02. Both measures surpassed previous record highs hit in late May. The Nasdaq ended at its highest close since October 2000.

• Friday, July 12th 2013 - 07:50 UTC

  With Guyana and Suriname all South American countries are Mercosur associates

  

  Suriname and Guyana signed on Thursday the protocols to become associate members of Mercosur which is currently holding its mid year summit in Montevideo. This means all South American countries are now part of Mercosur.

• Friday, July 12th 2013 - 06:40 UTC

  Right to abort of raped-pregnant 11-year-old triggers major controversy in conservative Chile

  

  A pregnant 11-year-old Chilean girl who was allegedly raped by her stepfather should be granted all medical options, including the right to abort, rights group Amnesty International said on Thursday. The pregnancy of 'Belen,' as she is known has sparked an outcry in one of South America’s most conservative countries, where abortion is banned under all circumstances.

• Thursday, July 11th 2013 - 17:02 UTC

  Brazil ups basic rate to 8.5% to combat inflation; markets forecast 9.25%/10% by end of the year

  

  Brazil’s central bank raised the benchmark interest rate a third consecutive time and anticipated that the tightening cycle may be extended through the rest of the year as policy makers fight inflation.

• Thursday, July 11th 2013 - 16:57 UTC

  Brazilian workers on “national struggle day” block the country’s main highways

  

  Tens of thousands of workers across Brazil have walked off their jobs on Thursday in a nationwide strike demanding better working conditions and improved public services. Organized by Brazil’s biggest trade union federations, strikers are partially or completely blocking 17 highways in seven states.

• Thursday, July 11th 2013 - 07:26 UTC

  Summit in Montevideo could further expose the fragility of a Mercosur turned political

  

  President-elect Horacio Cartes will not make any comments on the ongoing dispute of Paraguay with Mercosur until after the group’s summit in Uruguay next Friday, when official decisions on the subject are expected to be made public. However for both sides any decision will most probably be challenging and ratify that Mercosur has become a political group far from its original trade and investment purposes.

• Thursday, July 11th 2013 - 07:14 UTC

  After twenty years of negotiations US opens its market to Uruguayan citrus

  

  After almost twenty years of negotiations United States confirmed the opening of its market to citrus from Uruguay, which will become effective next 9 August when certain coordination and logistics tasks are coordinated by both countries.

• Thursday, July 11th 2013 - 07:04 UTC

  China blesses Taiwan economic accords if ‘one-China’ policy is respected

  

  China accepts that Taiwan signs economic cooperation agreements with other countries as long as they are not political and those countries do not interfere with the ‘one China policy’ which considers the island a province part of the nation, and not two nations as defended by Taipei.