Brazil Prez Blames 'Blue-Eyed Whites' for Mess

(NEWSER) - The plans outlined by global leaders at the meeting to deal with the financial crisis reflect a shifting balance of power, with emerging economies such as Brazil, India, and China gaining influence, the Washington Post reports. And the Europeans largely got what they wanted from the summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after the emergency meeting ended yesterday. More»

No, although a couple were charged and some were embarrassed

(NEWSER) - The government could soon prosecute a few Wall Streeters who allegedly played a role in the financial crisis, and the commission that uncovered those at fault was modeled on a similar probe after the Great Depression. So did anyone who precipitated that collapse ever go to jail? Nope, writes Brian Palmer in Slate ’s Explainer column: “The rampant speculation and eventual crash of 1929 weren't caused by fraud or illegality, but by unreasonable optimism and loose financial regulation.” More»

Dilma Rousseff faces challenge of living up to predecessor

(AP) - Dilma Rousseff was sworn in as Brazil's first female president today, capping a rapid political trajectory for the career technocrat and former Marxist rebel who was imprisoned and tortured during the nation's long military dictatorship. Rousseff, 63, takes the helm of Latin America's largest nation, which has risen both financially and politically on the world stage under outgoing leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. More»

Dilma Rousseff takes 56% in runoff vote

(NEWSER) - Brazil has elected its first woman president: Dilma Rousseff took the top slot after yesterday’s runoff election. The former energy secretary and chief of staff to president Luiz Inácio da Silva declared in her victory speech that her “mission is to eradicate poverty,” CNN reports. A left-wing fighter under Brazil’s 1960s military dictatorship, Rousseff beat centrist José Serra, a former governor of Sao Paulo and health minister; she took 56% of the vote, the AP notes. More»

Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's likely next president and former guerrilla

(NEWSER) - You might not have heard of her, but Dilma Rousseff is likely to be the most powerful woman in the world about a week from now. The stout 63-year-old ex-guerrilla and cancer survivor is poised to become Brazil's next president in elections next Sunday, reports the Independent, with a 50%-to-30% lead in polls virtually guaranteeing that the protege of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will succeed him. More»