Russia has increased arms sales to Latin America but Moscow’s interests in the region are “purely commercial” said Russian Foreign Affairs minister Sergei Lavrov following talks with his Mexican counterpart, the last stop of a regional tour that included Cuba, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Seventy journalists were killed in 2009, making it the worst year since records began 30 years ago, the Committee to Protect Journalists says. A massacre of 31 journalists in the Philippines broke the old record of 67 deaths, set only in 2007.
Foreign demand for US Treasury bonds and notes fell by a record amount in December as China reduced its holdings. The Treasury said foreign holdings of US debt dropped by 53 billion USD, surpassing the previous record set last April.
United Kingdom price rises caused by the return of 17.5% VAT in January saw inflation reach 3.5%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose to 3.5% last month from 2.9% in December as goods and services became more expensive.
Mercosur and the European Union could be signing a cooperation and free trade agreement, although not in its final version, next May during the two continents summit in Madrid, according to the Brazilian Foreign Affairs minister Celso Amorim
Chancellor Alistair Darling has defended his approach to tackling the UK's budget deficit. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Darling said he disagreed with economists who had called for more aggressive action to close the deficit.
European Union regulators ordered Greece to disclose details of currency swaps after an inquiry by the country’s Finance Ministry uncovered a series of agreements with banks that it may have used to conceal mounting debts.
Euro-zone finance ministers meeting Monday in Brussels nominated Portugal’s Vitor Manuel Ribeiro Constancio to become the next vice president of the European Central Bank, improving the chances of Germany’s Axel Weber to take the top job next year.
Britain's unemployment rate would be twice as high and the recession would have been even deeper if we had joined the euro, a think tank has claimed.
Greece could unveil more cost-cutting proposals if its current efforts do not work fast enough, the head of the 16-nation Euro-zone has said. Jean-Claude Juncker said Greece had agreed to outline additional measures in March if necessary.
His comments came following a meeting of Euro-zone finance ministers.