Politics

• Wednesday, December 10th 2014 - 07:56 UTC

  Weaker Latin American currencies against the US dollar next year

  

  Latin American currencies will lose value against the US dollar in 2015 because of the strong US recovery and lower commodities' prices according to Itau-Unibanco, Brazil's largest private bank which also anticipates a strong fiscal adjustment by President Dilma Rousseff's next administration, in an effort to regain investors' 'confidence'.

• Wednesday, December 10th 2014 - 07:33 UTC

  Churchill sent troops to the Falklands in 1942 fearing a Japan-Argentina entente

  

  Winston Churchill dispatched 1,700 troops to the Falkland Islands in 1942 out of concern that the Japanese were planning to invade the territory and interfere with critical sea routes in the South Atlantic. In support of this plan Tokyo allegedly was prepared to hand control of the Falklands to Argentina, according to a piece in the Daily Telegraph, credited to Julian Ryall, from the Japanese capital.

• Wednesday, December 10th 2014 - 01:54 UTC

  OAS: “The fight against corruption does not rest solely on public authorities”

  

  The Organization of American States (OAS), Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, celebrated International Anti-Corruption Day (December 9) calling on the international community to reaffirm their commitment to fight corruption and to “jointly tackle this problem that affects us all and that we must all work together to solve.”

• Wednesday, December 10th 2014 - 00:46 UTC

  United Nations urges “the dismantling of corruption's high walls”

  

  The fight against corruption is a global concern requiring the broadest possible response to “dismantle its high walls”, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday, 9 December, in a message marking International Anti-Corruption Day (*).

• Tuesday, December 9th 2014 - 23:42 UTC

  Former Roma mayor accused of laundering 'suticases full of money' in Argentina

  

  A mafia corruption investigation into alleged wrongdoing by the former mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, stretched all the way across the Atlantic to Argentina, following reports in the Italian media that the right-wing politician visited Patagonia three years ago, accompanied by his son, with “suitcases full” of undeclared money.

• Tuesday, December 9th 2014 - 23:08 UTC

  Despite Petrobras corruption, Rousseff has strong public opinion support

  

  Seven out of ten Brazilians believe President Dilma Rousseff has some responsibility in the Petrobras corruption scandal, which involves contractors and politicians, according to a public opinion poll from Datafolha, conducted on Dec. 2 and 3, including 2,896 interviews and published by Folha de Sao Paulo.

• Tuesday, December 9th 2014 - 23:03 UTC

  Mercosur lacks discipline and has become a 'straitjacket' for trade negotiations

  

  Mercosur must discipline and return to its origin as a customs union since it has become a 'straitjacket' for negotiations with other regional blocks, according to Lia Valls, foreign trade coordinator at the Brazilian Economics Institute belonging to the prestigious thinktank Getulio Vargas foundation.

• Tuesday, December 9th 2014 - 08:52 UTC

  “Kicillof's economy post still too big for him, but he has changed a lot in a year”

  

  The head of the Argentina's powerful manufacturing lobby, UIA, Hector Mendez fired harsh words against Economy Minister Axel Kicillof stressing “his post is still too big for him”, but admitted he 'has advanced' in the last twelve months.

• Tuesday, December 9th 2014 - 08:26 UTC

  The man in charge of fighting corruption in Brazil resigns: “I've done my duty”

  

  Comptroller General Jorge Hage, the man in charge of fighting corruption in the Brazilian government, announced his resignation amid a widening graft scandal centered on state-run oil company Petrobras. Hage said he sent President Dilma Rousseff his resignation letter a few weeks ago, after she won re-election for a second term in office.

• Tuesday, December 9th 2014 - 07:52 UTC

  Wealth redistribution and inequality at its highest in OECD countries

  

  The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has found that the divide between the richest 10 percent and poorest 10 percent in many of the world's wealthiest countries - including Germany, US and UK - has been growing. In a report released Monday, OECD said that this, in turn, had caused growth to slow.