United States

• Wednesday, March 18th 2009 - 15:29 UTC

  AIG gives bonuses and challenges US president and Congress

  

  Huge bonuses paid out by ailing insurer AIG will be deducted from the firm's next bail-out payment, the US treasury secretary says. In a letter to congressmen, Timothy Geithner said 165 million US dollars would be taken from 30 billion the firm is due to get as part of its government bail-out.

• Wednesday, March 18th 2009 - 08:03 UTC

  Nobel Prize Krugman says US and EU stimulus packages insufficient

  

  The US economist and Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman said Tuesday that Europe and the United States should at least double their fiscal efforts in order to salvage the global economy.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2009 - 13:46 UTC

  Businessman sentenced in Miami for suitcase cash scandal

  

  A Venezuelan businessman was sentenced in Miami on Monday to four years in prison for acting as an unregistered agent of Venezuela in the United States. Franklin Duran had been convicted of conspiring to cover up the origin and destination of a suitcase stuffed with 800.000 US dollars in cash that was found in 2007 in a Buenos Aires airport.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2009 - 13:42 UTC

  Bernanke on prime-time anticipated US economic recovery next year

  

  US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke expects economic recovery in America next year, but has warned that the biggest risk to an upturn is whether there is sufficient political will to mend the financial system.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2009 - 13:15 UTC

  US will pursue every single legal avenue” to stop AIG bonuses

  

  United States President Barack Obama expressed anger at 165 million US dollars bonuses ledged to executives of bailed-out insurer AIG, calling the payments “an outrage”.

• Sunday, March 15th 2009 - 15:29 UTC

  Pte. Obama and Lula da Silva review global economy

  

  President Barack Obama and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva discussed the economy, energy and the environment Saturday during their first White House meeting.

• Saturday, March 14th 2009 - 07:45 UTC

  Lula da Silva confident of US recovery but cautious about protectionism

  

  Brazilian President Lula da Silva said on Friday that counteracting the global credit crunch and preventing a wave of protectionism will be high on the agenda when he meets US President Barack Obama on Saturday.

• Saturday, March 14th 2009 - 07:44 UTC

  Obama sends Biden and Hillary on Latinamerican offensive

  

  President Barack Obama administration has begun moving on several fronts to repair strained US relations with Latin America. Obama meets Saturday at the White House with Brazilian President Lula da Silva, and he is sending Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Latin American missions to prepare for the mid-April Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.

• Saturday, March 14th 2009 - 07:42 UTC

  Washington reassures bond holder China that the US is “a credible nation”

  The White House has sought to assure China that its one trillion US dollars in investments in the United States is safe despite the economic downturn.

• Friday, March 13th 2009 - 09:30 UTC

  Obama administration seeks new relation and dialogue with Latinamerica

  

  United States looks at the coming Americas Summit next April in Trinidad Tobago as an opportunity to begin a new relation with Latinamerica in a “spirit of equals” since the region will have to play a crucial role in the reply to the global economic crisis.