Politics

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 07:57 UTC

  Signs of disarray in the Brazilian ruling coalition as president attacks corruption

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff reached out to political allies to stem a growing rebellion within her coalition after the resignation of a fourth minister threatened to further tense already strained relations.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 07:22 UTC

  Chavez health and ‘arbitrary laws’ make S&P downgrade Venezuela’s rating

  

  US ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Venezuela's foreign and local currency sovereign ratings by one notch Friday, citing the country's political risk as a credit weakness.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 07:19 UTC

  Biden tells China US power not waning and anticipates a bumpy 2012

  

  US Vice President Joe Biden rejected views that US power is waning and said Washington would never default, wrapping up a China visit that has played down tensions between the world's two biggest economies. He also anticipated 2012 was a ‘transition year” both for the US and China

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 07:10 UTC

  Venezuela has requested 99 tons of gold holdings from the Bank of England

  

  Venezuela’s central bank has requested its 99 tons of gold holdings from the Bank of England, according to a bank statement sent by e-mail, citing the institution’s president Nelson Merentes.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 07:08 UTC

  Main suspect in murder of French tourists admits being at the scene of the crime

  

  One the men arrested for the July murder of two French tourists in Argentina's Salta province has confessed he was at the scene of the crime, his lawyer said Saturday.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 06:51 UTC

  Tripoli crowds cheer Libyan rebels as they take the city; pockets of resistance

  

  A convoy of Libyan rebels rolled early Monday morning into central Tripoli past celebrating crowds after a day of heavy fighting in and around the capital. Crowds on Green Square cheered them, waving flags and firing salutes.

• Saturday, August 20th 2011 - 06:48 UTC

  Argentina’s organized labour has also been rattled by CFK’s Sunday landslide

  

  Last Sunday’s landslide victory of Argentine president Cristina Fernandez not only showed her domain of the political stage but also weakened some of her ‘inevitable’ allies that challenge her authority: such is the case of the powerful CGT organized labour leader Hugo Moyano.

• Saturday, August 20th 2011 - 06:43 UTC

  Peru halts coca plants eradication and works to redesign new anti-drugs program

  

  Peru has temporarily halted the eradication of coca plants used to make cocaine as it works to redesign its anti-drug programs, the country's interior ministry announced this week.

• Saturday, August 20th 2011 - 06:37 UTC

  Feisty Uruguay wins respect from neighbours and investors

  

  The following feature piece from Reuters written by Hillary Burke and Malena Castaldi gives an idea of Uruguay’s international standing.

• Saturday, August 20th 2011 - 06:26 UTC

  “Years to lower unemployment” with US economy so slow, says Fed member

  

  The United States economy is growing so slowly that it will take years to wrench lofty unemployment rates back to normal levels, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Sandra Pianalto said.