Politics

• Wednesday, January 29th 2014 - 21:36 UTC

  Hedge fund boss Singer rejects as 'bizarre' Argentine bondholders offer

  

  Paul Singer, head of Elliot Management Corp., defined as “bizarre”, the bondholders’ offer to resolve judicially the dispute with Argentina over the debt in default from 2001, during in a letter sent to investors and published by Bloomberg News.

• Wednesday, January 29th 2014 - 21:20 UTC

  Obama pledges support for the middle class and is prepared to bypass Congress

  

  US President Barack Obama displayed his strategy for getting around a divided Congress starting with a wage hike for federal contract workers in a State of the Union speech on Tuesday that reflected scaled-back legislative ambitions after a tough year.

• Wednesday, January 29th 2014 - 21:07 UTC

  Fed shaves another 10bn from stimulus; Turkey and South Africa raise rates

  

  The US Federal Reserve announced a $10bn reduction in its monthly bond purchases from 75bn to 65bn in the second straight month of winding down stimulus efforts. The central bank had been buying bonds in an effort to keep interest rates low and stimulate growth.

• Wednesday, January 29th 2014 - 21:00 UTC

  New York Times blasts Cristina Fernández: “Argentina on the brink”

  

  The New York Times published on Wednesday a very strong editorial criticizing the misguided policies of the government of President Cristina Fernandez, arguing that once again 'Argentina is on the brink”.

• Wednesday, January 29th 2014 - 20:37 UTC

  Ecuador readies witch hunt against certain journalists, claims NGO Fundamedios

  

  Ecuadorean non-governmental organization Fundamedios claimed that President Rafael Correa is trying to stop it from operating normally after the government announced that the “administrative control” of the NGO would be transferred to the national Communications Secretariat.

• Wednesday, January 29th 2014 - 06:51 UTC

  Argentine foreign money market operating at 8.015 Pesos to the US dollar

  

  For second day running the Argentine foreign money market reacted with normality with the official rate of the US dollar closing at 8.015 Pesos, while the so called 'reference dollar' for savings traded at 9.62 Pesos and the 'blue' or parallel climbed 35 cents to 12.50 Pesos.

• Wednesday, January 29th 2014 - 06:40 UTC

  Nicaragua's Ortega joins the club of Latam leaders addicted to remaining in office

  

  Nicaragua's national assembly voted to scrap presidential term limits, which could allow current head of state Daniel Ortega to run again for election at the end of his current mandate.

• Tuesday, January 28th 2014 - 22:44 UTC

  Hedge fund CEO says that dispute with Argentina could be settled 'in an afternoon'

  

  Paul Singer, CEO of hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation and who is litigating Argentina demanding full payment of defaulted bonds described Argentina's government policies as 'horrendous' and stated that 'talking' he could settle the dispute 'in an afternoon'.

• Tuesday, January 28th 2014 - 22:38 UTC

  Maduro wants Puerto Rico to join Celac, a territory 'free of colonies'

  

  President Nicolás Maduro described the current CELAC summit in Havana as historic and revealed Venezuela has proposed that the group's territories be considered 'free of colonies' and thus invites Puerto Rico to formally join Celac (Community of Latin American and Caribbean state).

• Tuesday, January 28th 2014 - 21:58 UTC

  World Cup infrastructure delay is “a joke” says Brazil assistant coach

  

  A Brazil assistant coach says it is “a joke” that the country’s government took so long to begin the infrastructure work needed for this year’s World Cup which is scheduled to begin in June.