United States

• Thursday, February 25th 2010 - 04:52 UTC

  Bernanke reaffirmed low interest rates for an extended period

  

  United States stocks rose on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve chairman reaffirmed his commitment to keep interest rates low for an extended period to sustain the still fragile recovery. Ben Bernanke told Congress a weak job market and tame inflation warranted keeping rates close to their near-zero level for the time being.

• Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 06:22 UTC

  New Latam block “consistent with US goals for the hemisphere”

  

  The new Latin American and Caribbean bloc planned without regional neighbours Canada and the United States are consistent with US goals for the region, a State Department spokesman said Tuesday

• Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 06:18 UTC

  US “neutral” on Falklands” dispute but recognizes UK administration

  

  The United States has a “neutral” stance regarding the question of the Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty but recognizes the current British administration of the Islands, said US State Department spokesperson during the daily press conference.

• Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 02:32 UTC

  Hillary Clinton at Uruguayan President Mujica’s inauguration

  

  US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be visiting five Latinamerican countries next week beginning in Uruguay, representing President Barack Obama at the inauguration ceremony of president elect Jose Mujica on March first, according to Washington diplomatic sources.

• Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 02:22 UTC

  US not interested in military outposts in Latinamerica, for the moment

  

  United States currently has no interest in having US troops stationed and with access to military bases belonging to other Latinamerican countries, such is the case with Colombia said a top Pentagon official during a visit to Nicaragua.

• Monday, February 22nd 2010 - 23:51 UTC

  Goldman Sachs defends 2001 swap-deal to mask debts of Greece

  

  Goldman Sachs defended the 2001 debt-swap deal with Greece that may have allowed the country to mask the extent of its debt woes. Gerald Corrigan, chairman of Goldman Sachs Bank USA, the bank's holding company, said it was “consistent” with the regulations of the time.

• Saturday, February 20th 2010 - 21:20 UTC

  US Fed members insists borrowing costs will remain low

  

  The US Federal Reserve poured cold water on speculation that a surprise hike to its emergency lending rate signalled a change in monetary policy, saying borrowing costs in the economy would remain low.

• Saturday, February 20th 2010 - 15:11 UTC

  General Haig, US mediator of Falklands War dies

  

  Alexander Haig, the decorated four- star general and assertive aide to U.S. presidents who declared himself “in control” at the White House after Ronald Reagan was shot, has died. He was 85.

• Friday, February 19th 2010 - 21:00 UTC

  Obama names bipartisan taskforce to tackle US budget deficit

  

  President Barack Obama has set up a taskforce to tackle the growing US budget deficit.
  The body will report back by the end of the year on what steps need to be taken to get the deficit down to 3% of GDP.

• Friday, February 19th 2010 - 05:20 UTC

  Federal Reserve tightens policy raises discount rate to commercial banks

  

  The United State Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy Thursday for the first time in more than a year, raising by 0.25 percentage points the discount interest rate at which the US central bank lends directly to commercial banks.