
Authorities from the Argentine Patagonia province of Chubut issued a red alert on the fires that affect forest areas and decided to evacuate El Hoyo town, while 40 Chilean fire-fighters were expected to arrive to the mountain region to help put out the bush fires.

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff signed the decree for the construction of five new hydroelectric dams in the Amazon basin and readies for a renewed attack from domestic and international environmentalists against the project.

British Prime Minister David Cameron discarded any Falkland Islands sovereignty negotiations with Argentina and said that his government is permanently vigilant about the protection of the Islands and their defence.

UK's Prime Minister David Cameron said for the first time he would veto a European-wide financial transaction tax unless it was imposed globally, deepening a confrontation with European Union heavyweights France and Germany.

China's lending and money supply grew at a faster pace than expected as the country relaxed its credit restrictions. New loans worth 640.5bn Yuan (101bn dollars) were issued in December, up from 562.2bn Yuan in November.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will welcome his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday on his first stop of a five-nation tour of Latin America, state media reported.

Inflation in Uruguay was not only far above target domestically but also figures among the ten highest in the world, and in Latam only behind Argentina and Venezuela

Argentina’s government is “grandstanding” and acting illegally in imposing a blockade on ships from the Falkland Islands, Henry Bellingham has claimed in an interview with the Lynn News from England.

Investment banking heavyweight Credit Suisse has initiated coverage of Rockhopper Exploration with a bullish assessment of prospects for the Falklands–focused firm, reports Proactive Investors UK.

Brazil's government just met its inflation target for 2011, which was a surprise victory forPresident Dilma Rousseff and for a central bank that struggled for most of the year with rising food and commodities prices. However it is the highest inflation since 2004.