Politics

• Friday, March 5th 2010 - 06:58 UTC

  Strong 6.3 quake strikes northern Chile; three days national mourning

  

  Chile was shaken Thursday by a strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake that officials said was not an aftershock from the massive quake that killed hundreds and left two million in precarious living conditions last weekend.

• Friday, March 5th 2010 - 06:56 UTC

  Argentina: Defiant Cristina: “this president will pay debts with central bank reserves”

  

  Argentina's president defiantly vowed on Thursday to tap billions of dollars in foreign currency reserves to pay debt, in spite of Congress and the Judiciary, but also appealed a court order blocking her latest attempt to use the funds.

• Friday, March 5th 2010 - 06:49 UTC

  Central bank acting president, first victim of political clash in Argentina

  

  Argentina’s central bank interim chief seems condemned to be the first victim of the political clash between the Executive and Congress over the government’s use of central bank reserves to pay maturing debt in 2010.

• 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.