Politics

• Friday, March 5th 2010 - 06:38 UTC

  Dilma riding on Lula da Silva’s popularity but “won’t be enough”

  

  Former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso said that while President Lula da Silva is “unbeatable” today, his popularity won’t be enough to elect his chosen heir, cabinet chief Dilma Rousseff (62).

• Friday, March 5th 2010 - 06:33 UTC

  Greek PM in Berlin will test Germany’s commitment

  

  Two political allies of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Greece should sell off some of its islands to pay off its debts. Greece's Prime Minister, George Papandreou, is due to meet Ms Merkel in Berlin Friday for talks about his country's economic crisis.

• Friday, March 5th 2010 - 06:29 UTC

  Bank of England leaves QE program and interest rates unchanged

  

  The Bank of England opted Thursday against providing fresh aid for the economy after a year of record low interest rates and emergency stimulus measures. Its rate-setting committee marked the first anniversary of quantitative easing by leaving the program unchanged at £200bn and holding borrowing costs at 0.5%.

• Friday, March 5th 2010 - 06:21 UTC

  China surprises with a slower growth of its 2010 defence budget policy

  

  China announced a slowdown in the growth of its much-watched defence budget. The planned increase of just 7.5% on last year's military spending is the smallest hike after more than two decades of annual double-digit increases.

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 21:24 UTC

  US and Brazil agree Venezuela “should be looking more to the south”

  

  The United States and Brazil agreed that Venezuela should be “looking more to the south”, to “successful models of country”, according to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and that is why “we have invited Venezuela to join Mercosur”, pointed out Brazilian Foreign Secretary Celso Amorim.

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 21:18 UTC

  Half of Venezuelan population has “little or no confidence” in President Chavez

  

  Venezuelan voters' confidence in President Hugo Chávez is beginning to wane as a result of the electricity crisis, water rationing, economic measures, decisions limiting private property and attempts at leading the country into a Socialist system.

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 21:12 UTC

  What can Argentina gain from another Falklands dispute?

  

  The Washington Post published this week an editorial on the current Falkland Islands situation arguing that “you know that an Argentine leader must be in political trouble” if the subject of the South Atlantic Islands comes up again.

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 04:46 UTC

  Insulza bids for a second OAS term; US and Venezuela are not convinced

  

  The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, on Wednesday presented his candidacy for re-election in a speech before the Permanent Council in which he offered to continue to be a “partner” in the use of a “modern multilateralism to apply our common agenda, as ambitious as it may be, for the benefit of the people of the Americas.”

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 04:21 UTC

  Brazil tells Washington “not to push Iran into a corner”

  

  Brazil and the US could not agree Wednesday over how to rein in Tehran's suspect nuclear ambitions and Brazilian President Lula da Silva warned the world not to “push Iran into a corner.”

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 04:19 UTC

  Europe welcomes Greek austerity plan, but Athens demands “solidarity”

  

  Europe has welcomed a 6.6 billion US dollars Greek austerity plan of pension freezes and tax hikes as the country mounts a frantic bid to cut its budget deficit. Hundreds of pensioners hit the streets after Prime Minister George Papandreou revealed the hit to public and private sector retirement plans.