Politics

• Saturday, February 27th 2010 - 08:16 UTC

  Brazilian central bank prepares to withdraw stimulus measures and liquidity

  

  The Brazilian Central bank’s decision to raise reserve requirements this week will have an impact on monetary policy, admitted the bank’s governor Henrique Meirelles in an interview with the financial publication Valor Economico.

• Saturday, February 27th 2010 - 07:50 UTC

  Brazil could ban “Naughty blonde” beer ad featuring Paris Hilton

  

  Paris Hilton is causing a stir in Brazil, where a government department has claimed a one minute beer commercial in which she stars is demeaning to women, particularly blondes.

• Saturday, February 27th 2010 - 07:37 UTC

  Colombian president barred from running for a third consecutive mandate

  

  The Colombian Constitutional Court ruled Friday against holding a referendum that could have cleared the way for President Alvaro Uribe to run for a third consecutive term.

• Saturday, February 27th 2010 - 07:31 UTC

  Falklands a “bilateral issue between Argentina and UK”, insists Washington

  

  The Falkland Islands and the political figure of President Barak Obama were among the issues addressed by United States Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela during a Friday mid day press conference in anticipation of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s trip to five countries of the region.

• Saturday, February 27th 2010 - 07:21 UTC

  Greek/German row leads to claims of World War II compensations

  

  Greek Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos has accused Germany of failing to compensate Greece for Nazi occupation during World War II. Mr Pangalos made the remarks during a wide-ranging BBC interview about Greece's financial difficulties.

• Saturday, February 27th 2010 - 00:47 UTC

  IMF chief suggests “exploring” possible new international reserve currency

  

  The head of the International Monetary Fund said it would be “intellectually healthy to explore” the possible creation of an international reserve currency that would serve as an alternative to the US dollar-.

• Friday, February 26th 2010 - 16:49 UTC

  The Economist: Kirchners recipe for continued decline

  Leaving aside much of the London media rhetoric about a build-up or even a possible re-edition of 1982, between Argentina and the UK over the Falklands and South Atlantic islands sovereignty, The Economist adopts a more common sense and pragmatic attitude about the controversy over oil exploration in the South Atlantic.

• Friday, February 26th 2010 - 06:39 UTC

  Falklands: UK MOD denies naval incident with Argentine vessel

  

  The British Ministry of Defence strongly denied Thursday any incident in the Falklands territorial waters involving a Royal Navy South Atlantic patrol and an Argentine Navy corvette, as reported in some London sensational media.

• Friday, February 26th 2010 - 06:35 UTC

  Mujica praises “strong message” from the US; plans to invite Obama to Uruguay

  

  Uruguayan president elect Jose Mujica will hold a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday morning, before the official inauguration, and will take advantage of her presence to invite US President Barack Obama to visit Uruguay.

• Friday, February 26th 2010 - 06:30 UTC

  Chile’s largest copper producer increases output: first time in five years

  

  Chile’s Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, increased production in 2009 for the first time in five years, helped by a new mine. The company also generated an impressive surplus over the last four years.