
Hasan Tuluy, a Turkish national and a strong supporter of inclusive growth, will become the new World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) as of January 1st, 2012. Mr. Tuluy will oversee the Bank’s lending, knowledge, and poverty-fighting operations in the region, which totalled 9.6 billion dollars in fiscal year 2011.

Making a film about an iconic politician like Britain's Margaret Thatcher is akin to walking into a movie minefield, and casting an American -- even one as revered as Meryl Streep -- is asking for more trouble.

An international group of scientists has shown that many seabirds begin to suffer when the food available for them in the ocean declines below a critical level. This level is about one-third of the maximum measured amount of food available. They have found that this critical level is about the same for seabird species around the world. Their study — the most comprehensive ever undertaken — covers birds from the Arctic to the Antarctic and from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

A majority of the ruling Conservative Party members believe Britain should leave the European Union, according to an opinion poll. A survey of party members by the ConservativeHome website for The Independent found 54% would favour ending Britain’s EU membership and signing up to a free-trade agreement

The Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadinejad will be travelling to Latinamerica in the second week of January 2012 to visit Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador, announced the Teheran presidential office, according to a report from the official news agency FNA.

The Spanish king's son-in-law was charged Thursday in a fraud and embezzlement case that has damaged the royal family, which this week took the unprecedented step of disclosing its income.

The Brazilian subsidiaries of Mexican telecoms giant America Movil are planning 10 billion Reais (5.4 billion dollars) worth of new investment in 2012, Folha de São Paulo said on Tuesday.

Ana Botella, the wife of former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, was sworn-in Tuesday as Madrid’s first woman mayor. She succeeds Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, mayor of the capital since 2003, who resigned to serve as Justice Minister in the new Conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

The Chilean government has signed a strategic bilateral agreement with the state of Massachusetts, opening the way for collaborative research in the key areas of education, energy and biotechnology.

The US Treasury on Tuesday criticized Japan's interventions to halt the Yen's rise in the last six months, saying they were unnecessary and that Tokyo would do better to strengthen its domestic economy and competitiveness.