Politics

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 04:36 UTC

  China and Germany, world’s exporting giants meet in Beijing to discuss Euro-crisis

  

  German leader Angela Merkel is due to hold top-level talks Thursday on her second visit to China this year, with Europe's debt crisis taking centre stage as it begins to drag on the two global powers.

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 04:32 UTC

  Brazil cuts benchmark rate for ninth time running to an all time low of 7.5%

  

  Brazil’s central bank cut the benchmark interest rate for the ninth straight time on Wednesday to an all-time low of 7.5%, as policymakers keep up efforts to bolster a slow-moving economy which is the world's sixth-largest.

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 04:25 UTC

  Venezuelan refinery ‘cooling down’; independent report points to serious lack of maintenance

  

  Venezuela is carrying out an “exhaustive” inspection of its biggest refinery before attempting to restart processing after extinguishing a four-day fire yesterday caused by an explosion that killed 48 people and left hundreds homeless.

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 04:20 UTC

  Brazilian government launches a new round of stimuli to prop consumption

  

  Brazil's government unveiled a host of new measures on Wednesday aimed at increasing investment and consumption as it expanded efforts to boost a sluggish recovery in the world's sixth-largest economy.

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 03:50 UTC

  Venezuela investigating alleged massacre of indigenous people in the Amazon

  

  Venezuela announced it is investigating an alleged massacre of indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest, after a tribal group told the government that a village of 80 natives was attacked in July from a helicopter.

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 03:18 UTC

  FIFA begins round of latest inspection of Brazil 2014 Cup preparations

  

  FIFA secretary general Jerome Valke this week began his latest inspection of Brazil 2014 World Cup preparations amid ongoing concerns over delays in stadiums and infrastructure projects.

• Wednesday, August 29th 2012 - 21:49 UTC

  The “Paraguay situation” and options as seen from Washington

  

  By Eric Stadius, Research Associate at Council on Hemispheric Affairs and Peter Tase, Research Fellow at Council on Hemispheric Affairs.Two months after President Fernando Lugo’s impeachment, Paraguay has transitioned from reconciling its relatively benign political crisis to enhancing regional and international links politically and economically.

• Wednesday, August 29th 2012 - 21:35 UTC

  Foreign Office says Ecuador and UK have resume dialogue on the Assange case

  

  Ecuador and the UK have confirmed the resumption of talks on the Assange case following the meeting of Ecuadorean Vice president Lenin Boltaire Moreno and Foreign Secretary William Hague at the Foreign Office on Wednesday.

• Wednesday, August 29th 2012 - 21:22 UTC

  Majority of Uruguayans mistrust President Mujica; support stands at 39%

  

  Mistrust towards Uruguayan president Jose Mujica has again peaked in August and now stands at 52% while those trusting him are 39% with the remaining 8% saying they don’t know or prefer to remain quiet, according to the latest public opinion poll released this week in Montevideo.

• Wednesday, August 29th 2012 - 21:16 UTC

  EU threatens to impose tariffs on bio-diesel imported from Argentina

  

  The European Union threatened on Wednesday to impose tariffs on bio-diesel imported from Argentina and also Indonesia. The announcement was made today on the bloc’s Official Gazette.