Politics

• Thursday, January 6th 2011 - 11:10 UTC

  As with Greece and Portugal, China comes to Spain’s rescue; 7.5 billion deals

  

  China and Spain signed this week business deals worth 7.5 billion US dollars, a welcome boost for Spain's recession-hit economy. Visiting Vice-Premier Li Keqiang also vowed to help Europe overcome its debt crisis (and support the Euro), as he started his three-nation European tour.

• Thursday, January 6th 2011 - 11:07 UTC

  Barroso warns Europe of a tough “painful” year ahead

  

  The year 2011 will be economically challenging and painful, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned this week. After two years of economic recession, Barroso expects a difficult year ahead and underlined the need for Europe to make progress on economic governance and policy coordination.

• Thursday, January 6th 2011 - 11:03 UTC

  Uruguay “exported” 1.414 football players in the last decade

  

  Uruguay “exported” 1.414 football players during the last decade, (equivalent to 128 teams) to such different places as Argentina, Italy, Iraq, Russia or Romania according to a report from a local Montevideo newspaper.

• Wednesday, January 5th 2011 - 09:17 UTC

  The hidden risks of social media

  

  Europol’s new iOCTA* report examines how EU citizens are risking their personal identities, privacy and computer data through the use of social media tools which are increasingly a target for cybercriminal activity.

• Wednesday, January 5th 2011 - 09:09 UTC

  Brazil and Chile Battle Rising Currencies

  

  Brazil on Tuesday threatened tougher capital controls and other measures to keep its currency from rising against the dollar, a day after Chile's central bank unveiled its own $12 billion plan to buy greenbacks.

• Wednesday, January 5th 2011 - 08:34 UTC

  A Latin American View: Not Heard At The G-20

  

  International economic coordination is as necessary as it is elusive. During the global financial crisis, the G-20 became the primary forum to agree on basic principles in areas such as the fiscal-policy response and the role of the International Monetary Fund.

• Tuesday, January 4th 2011 - 14:15 UTC

  Argentine Government questions present relevance of 1999 Falklands Agreement with Britain

  

  The Argentine Foreign Ministry stated yesterday that the “provisional understandings” signed by London and Buenos Aires were in complete disuse and that the “unilateral actions of the United Kingdom” with regard to oil exploration and military exercises on the Islands constituted an “unsolveable obstacle” to the continuation and development of the “bilateral cooperation”

• Monday, January 3rd 2011 - 20:17 UTC

  Chile: Police continue evictions of occupied land on Easter Islands

  

  More than 100 Police Special Forces violently evicted Rapa Nui indigenous groups from the Government Plaza in the center of Hanga Roa over the holidays, causing injuries to at least nine people, three of them serious.

• Monday, January 3rd 2011 - 05:11 UTC

  Venezuelan currency devalued again

  

  Venezuelan government devalued its bolivar currency for the second time in 12 months on Thursday, abolishing the lowest exchange rate as the Opec member fights to revive its economy. Intended to spur local production in the largely import-dependent nation, the announcement followed a central bank estimate that the economy contracted 1.9 percent during 2010 - Venezuela's second straight year of recession.

• Sunday, January 2nd 2011 - 23:35 UTC

  Latam social indexes improving but 180 million are still considered poor

  

  The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a record number of 170 projects in 2010 totaling an estimated 12.9 billion USD, as the IDB continues to boost its efforts to help Latin American and Caribbean combat poverty and inequality, and promote sustainable growth.