
The biggest global school rankings have been published, with Asian countries in the top five spots and African countries at the bottom. Singapore heads the table, followed by Hong Kong, with Ghana at the bottom. The UK is in 20th place, among higher achieving European countries, with the US in 28th.

The criminal case against President Cristina Fernandez was closed Tuesday when federal judges from Cassation Court accepted a prosecutor’s decision not to pursue accusations that she had conspired to shield Iranians suspected of planning the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

Argentina's Lower House Impeachment Committee has approved a motion to begin evaluations on the health of Supreme Court Justice Carlos Fayt, in order to determine whether the judge has the physical and mental capacity to continue in his post.

Prime Minister David Cameron will hold an early referendum on membership of the European Union if he can first reach a deal that satisfies his demands for major changes in Britain's relationship with the bloc, his spokesman said yesterday.

In a move which has been interpreted as a right turn, economist Rodrigo Valdes was named as Chile's finance minister on Monday by President Michelle Bachelet, in a sweeping cabinet reshuffle in which four of her closest ministers were sacked or shifted into other roles. On Valdes' immediate to-do list is an upcoming 1.26 billion dollars international debt issue.

Former United States President Jimmy Carter ended an election-monitoring trip to Guyana early and flew home on Sunday after falling ill, the Carter Center, his nonprofit organization, said in a statement. The Carter Center provided only sketchy information on Sunday about the condition of the 90-year-old former president.

Guyana voted Monday in early elections pitting embattled President Donald Ramotar against an upstart opposition alliance seeking to unite voters across racial lines with its calls to end corruption.

Argentina has launched a stinging attack on hedge funds attempting to block payment on last month's Bonar 24 debt issuance, stating that the petition shows the 'vulture funds' desperation following the successful auction.

French President Francois Hollande has urged an end to the US trade embargo of Cuba and envisioned a larger French role in Cuba's engagement with the West during the first visit by a French head of state to Cuba. Havana is in foreign policy talks with both the European Union and the United States amid intense world interest in Cuba following detente with Washington in December.

The Chilean government has renewed its 'explicit' support for Argentina's sovereignty claims over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands, according to Daniel Filmus, the Argentine official head of the special department for affairs relative to the Malvinas Islands, who is currently in a political tour in Santiago.