Argentine financial markets closed lower on Wednesday waiting for the outcome of the ongoing dispute between President Cristina Kirchner and Central bank governor Martin Redrado which is now under consideration in Congress.
The year 2009 saw the biggest decline in air passenger traffic in the post-war era, according to the International Air Transport Association IATA. Passenger demand for the full year was down 3.5% with an average load factor of 75.6%. Freight showed a full-year decline of 10.1% with an average load factor of 49.1%.
The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that the U.S. economic activity has continued to “strengthen” and decided to keep a key interest rate unchanged at a record low of between zero to 0.25% to prop up the economy. However there was a dissenting vote.
Legendary investor George Soros has called for a radical break-up of banks that are too big to fail. He also backed US President Barack Obama's proposed reforms to limit the size of banks at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for a fundamental rethink of capitalism in the aftermath of the financial crisis. We need deep profound change, he said in his keynote speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, considered one of the seven new wonders of the world which receives annually 1.8 million visitors annually starting this week will undergo a facelift, according to Brazilian Catholic church sources.