United States

• Thursday, December 19th 2013 - 06:01 UTC

  Fed announces gradual conditioned tapering of stimuli from next January

  

  The U.S. Federal Reserve will start scaling back its monthly bond-buying program as early as next month, but the reduction will be gradual. The Federal Reserve has been buying 85 billion dollars a month in government bonds in an effort to keep interest rates low and boost economic growth.

• Thursday, December 19th 2013 - 05:55 UTC

  US congress agrees budget deal reducing risk of government shutdown

  

  On the same day the Federal Reserve announced tapering of stimulus, the US Senate passed a two-year budget deal to ease automatic spending cuts and reduce the risk of a government shutdown, but fights were already breaking out over how to implement the budget pact

• Wednesday, December 18th 2013 - 06:43 UTC

  First ruling against US government 'metadata' collection; Obama meets top technology companies leaders

  

  A US judge has ruled the National Security Agency's mass collection of telephone data may be unconstitutional. Federal District Judge Richard Leon said the electronic spy agency's practice was an “arbitrary invasion”.

• Tuesday, December 17th 2013 - 17:10 UTC

  Volcker rule making banking 'boring' (and limiting speculation) enforced in US financial system

  

  All five US financial regulators have approved the Volcker rule, designed to restrict the finance industry in the wake of the 2008-09 financial collapse. Named after former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, it bans banks from using their own funds for trading activities and it is considered the centerpiece of the 2010 banking reform legislation known as Dodd-Frank.Banks will have until 21 July 2015 to comply with the rules.

• Tuesday, December 17th 2013 - 02:18 UTC

  US insists Obama remains open to a state visit from Brazil's Dilma Rousseff

  

  The new US ambassador in Brazil Liliana Ayalde said President Barack Obama is prepared to receive his Brazilian peer Dilma Rousseff. The statement comes weeks after a state visit planned for last October was suspended by Dilma in protest over revelations of extensive US spying of Brazilian communications including the mobiles of the Brazilian leader.

• Friday, December 13th 2013 - 09:01 UTC

  Congress and White House agree on budget bill which should end clashes

  

  The US House of Representatives has approved a two-year federal budget bill in a strong showing of cross-party support, further avoiding the specter of another government shutdown. The measure, written by the Republican and Democratic heads of the House and Senate budget committees respectively, was approved by a 332-94 vote.

• Wednesday, December 11th 2013 - 03:58 UTC

  IAATO names Amanda Lynnes part-time Operations and Communications Assistant

  

  The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) has announced the appointment of Amanda Lynnes to the part-time position of Operations and Communications Assistant. Amanda is responsible for communicating IAATO’s key messages and will assist in the development of the environmental and operational components of the Association.

• Saturday, December 7th 2013 - 06:43 UTC

  US November data on jobs triggers optimism in world markets and strengthens the dollar

  

  Global equity markets surged and the dollar rose against the Yen after stronger-than-expected US jobs data gave investors confidence the economy is strong enough to withstand an expected reduction in Federal Reserve stimulus.

• Saturday, December 7th 2013 - 06:08 UTC

  US government intervenes in favor of Argentina in defaulted-bonds ongoing case

  

  The US government has asked the US Supreme Court to intervene over a hedge fund's effort to gain information about Argentina's non-US assets as part of an ongoing litigation, which is rapidly becoming a lead case regarding sovereign assets and sovereign debts rescheduling.

• Wednesday, December 4th 2013 - 06:09 UTC

  Message of support from US to Argentina's latest international financial decisions

  

  United States praised Argentina for its latest commitment to the payment of a debt worth more than 600 million dollars to five companies in exchange for the ending of legal action. The message was transmitted by the US most senior representative in Argentina Kevin Sullivan, in a brief encounter with cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich, according to reports in Ambito Financiero.