The Argentine central bank confirmed on Wednesday that there is no money exchange restrictions for the federal government or provinces to purchase US dollars to honour public debt issued offshore.
Brazil's central bank on Wednesday slashed its interest rate for the 10th time since August last year, to a record low of 7.25%, in a bid to stimulate the sluggish economy.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez named Foreign minister Nicolás Maduro as his new vice-president on Wednesday in the first change of cabinet after Sunday's re-election.
Standard & Poor's cut Spain's sovereign credit rating to BBB-minus, just above junk territory, citing a deepening economic recession that is limiting the government's policy options to arrest the slide.
Two US scientists won the 2012 Nobel Prize for chemistry for research into how cells respond to external stimuli that is helping to develop better drugs to fight diseases such as diabetes, cancer and depression.