US President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated his chief of staff, Jack Lew, as the next Treasury secretary, praising him as a expert on the pressing national issues of spending cuts and deficit reduction.
The Bank of England on Thursday decided not to extend its quantitative easing (QE) stimulus program, which has injected £375bn into the UK financial system. It is also keeping its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, where it has been since March 2009.
The United Nations reported on Thursday that food prices fell for the third month in a row in December last year, balancing out sharp increases registered earlier in 2012, which had previously sparked fears of a food crisis.
Opposition leader Enrique Capriles accepted Venezuela’s high court sentence endorsing the postponement of President Hugo Chavez inauguration on Thursday and the ruling that the cancer-stricken leader and his administration remained in office, since “as president re-elect there is no interruption of performance of duties”.
President Cristina Fernandez (CFK) as expected made the welcoming ceremony for the Argentine frigate ARA Libertad (retained in Ghana for 78 days) into a ‘sovereignty and dignity’ political rally including the support of 20.000 militants, mostly bused in by political organizations, in which she blasted hedge funds, ‘global social predators’ and warned that through extortion and force nobody is going to obtain anything from Argentina.
Argentine president Cristina Kirchner targeted the UK for “threatening” to come “to militarize and invade our Malvinas Islands” following the announcement that an additional 150 British soldiers are been sent to the Falklands and PM David Cameron recent warnings on support of the Islands.
A hacker in Brazil has published sensitive personal data of politicians convicted during a major corruption trial known as the Mensalao. Jose Genoino, Jose Dirceu and Delubio Soares have had address, phone numbers, emails and other details exposed.
Brazilian corporations with strong interests in Venezuela have expressed concern about the future of the country and its impact on Mercosur if the political transition, because of President Hugo Chavez health condition, does not follow the constitutional process
By Anka Mulder - Over the next decade, it is estimated by the World Economic Forum (WEF) that the global economy will need to create some 600 million new jobs to preserve social cohesion, and ensure sustainable growth. In the midst of ongoing economic fragility across much of the world, this poses a monumental challenge, and will thus be one of the topics discussed at WEF annual meeting in Davos later this month.
Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal constitutional chamber endorsed the postponement of Hugo Chavez inauguration scheduled for Thursday and ruled that the cancer-stricken leader remained as the constitutional president of the country since he was re-re-elected and was granted a leave of absence for medical reasons by the National Assembly.