Politics

• Wednesday, February 27th 2013 - 05:10 UTC

  Jack Lew closer to becoming US Treasury Secretary; Senate votes Hagel for the Pentagon

  

  Jack Lew won the Senate Finance Committee’s approval to become US Treasury secretary and a full vote in the upper house confirmed Chuck Hagel as the next US defense secretary. The Senate approved the nomination Tuesday in a vote of 58 to 41.

• Wednesday, February 27th 2013 - 01:14 UTC

  Italy fears knock world stock markets; US recovers on Bernanke’ defence of stimuli

  

  World stock markets and southern European government bonds sank on Tuesday on fears that political stalemate in Italy would leave its economic reforms in tatters and reignite the Euro zone's broader debt crisis.

• Tuesday, February 26th 2013 - 10:46 UTC

  Brazil: current account deficit outpacing FDI expected to continue for two months

  

  Brazil’s current account deficit surged to a record high in January, outpacing foreign direct investment for the third straight month because of the widening trade gap according to central bank data.

• Tuesday, February 26th 2013 - 09:27 UTC

  Tolerance of bribery and violation of the law in the Americas

  

  Where disregarding the law is normal rather than an aberration, citizens are more likely to see paying a bribe as in their best interest and where obeying the law is the norm and disobeying it constitutes deviant behaviour, citizens are more likely to reject bribery, is one of the foundations for understanding the phenomenon, according to the Americas Barometer Insights in one of its latest papers titled, “tolerance of bribery and violation of the law”.

• Tuesday, February 26th 2013 - 08:12 UTC

  Italy rejects EU sponsored austerity measures leaves country in political deadlock

  

  Italy faced political deadlock on Tuesday after a stunning election that saw the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic Beppe Grillo become the strongest party in the country and left no political group with a clear majority in parliament. The protest vote is also a clear signal of the failure of the EU-German sponsored austerity measures which were implemented by the government of the non-elected technocrat government of Mario Monti.

• Tuesday, February 26th 2013 - 00:59 UTC

  Argentine born MEP shocks UK politics by abandoning independents and joining the Tories

  

  Argentine born Marta Andreasen a UK south east region MEP (Member of the European Parliament) for the UK Independent Party has said she is leaving the party to join the Conservatives.

• Tuesday, February 26th 2013 - 00:10 UTC

  Argentina accused UK of sending submarines with nuclear weapons capacity to the Falklands

  

  Argentina accused the UK of displacement of submarines with nuclear weapons capacity in the Falkland Islands, violating international treaties that established the South Atlantic zone as free of nuclear arms. The claim was made on Monday at the United Nations Disarmament Conference in Geneva.

• Monday, February 25th 2013 - 22:16 UTC

  South Korea has first female president: pledges ‘trust-politik’ with Pyongyang

  

  Park Geun-hye made history Monday by becoming South Korea's first female president, pledging to secure South Korea against the threat of an increasingly hostile North Korea at the same time as mending bridges with Pyongyang.

• Monday, February 25th 2013 - 20:21 UTC

  Kerry refuses to comment on Falklands’ referendum; US position remains unchanged

  

  Starting in London his first trip overseas as the new US Secretary of State, John Kerry kept strictly to US policy on the Falkland Islands and refused to comment on the coming referendum when Islanders are expected to decide on their political status and future.

• Monday, February 25th 2013 - 11:21 UTC

  Brazil and Nigeria sign accord to boost trade, investment and energy cooperation

  

  Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff met with Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja on Saturday to discuss boosting trade and investment between the two countries, particularly in the energy sector and cooperation in several other fields. The brief visit was sufficient for the two presidents to sign an ambitious memorandum of understanding.