As the Rio Summit came to a close Tuesday night, Latin America leaders announced that they would start a new regional bloc that excludes the US and Canada. Latin America leaders at the two-day Rio Summit in Mexico announced at the end of the meeting on Tuesday night that they will form a new regional bloc that will exclude the United States and Canada. Billed as an alternative to the Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS), the new group will but more distance between the hemisphere's Spanish and Portuguese speaking nations and the English-speaking nations in the north. A name for the proposed new group has not yet been chosen.

Stocks finished flat on Monday as investors held back before congressional testimony by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, while scattered buying lifted shares of health insurers and banks. President Barack Obama revised plans for an overhaul of U.S. healthcare. The Morgan Stanley healthcare payor index rose 1.7 percent, but investors said financial shares benefited from the focus shifting away from reform in that sector. The KBW bank index rose 1.9 percent, but energy shares weighed on the broader market.

Conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera has won Chile's presidential run-off, ending two decades of centre-left rule. Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei conceded defeat after results from 60% of polling stations showed Mr Pinera with 52% of the vote to Mr Frei's 48%. Mr Pinera promised a tough law-and-order programme and vowed to use his business know-how to boost the economy. Outgoing President Michelle Bachelet was barred by law from standing again. Mr Pinera has promised to continue her highly popular social policies. He will be Chile's first democratically elected conservative leader for more than half a century.

China called on Google Inc. and other foreign investors Friday to respect its rules and regulations and said no matter what decision the Internet giant makes on its China operations, it is unlikely to affect overall U.S.-China trade relations. Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Yao Jian said the country would continue to support foreign investment in the country, but said foreign investors must respect China's situation. The remarks were the most detailed response by a Chinese government official since Google said earlier this week that it would stop censoring content on its Chinese site and threatened to pull out of the country altogether after attacks on its computer system that it said originated in China.

The official Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission — the group that aims to hold a modern version of the Pecora hearings of the 1930s, whose investigations set the stage for New Deal bank regulation — began taking testimony on Wednesday. In its first panel, the commission grilled four major financial-industry honchos. What did we learn? Well, if you were hoping for a Perry Mason moment — a scene in which the witness blurts out: “Yes! I admit it! I did it! And I’m glad!” — the hearing was disappointing. What you got, instead, was witnesses blurting out: “Yes! I admit it! I’m clueless!”