Washington - A large and growing, but underestimated, voter bloc of Asian and Latino immigrants could play a pivotal role in the presidential elections, which are often decided by very small voting margins, a report released Thursday said.

This increasingly influential group, who were 8.6 per cent of all registered voters in 2006, are described in the report as New Americans, comprised of naturalized Americans or those immigrants who have become US citizens, as well as immigrants' children born in the US after 1965.

Washington - US President George W Bush on Thursday said he recognized global concerns about the far reaches of the financial crisis and reiterated that wealthy nations were working together to bring markets under control.

Speaking at the signing of a trade extension deal with four Latin American nations, Bush said all nations were in the middle of carrying out comprehensive plans to stabilize financial markets.

Washington - Latin America's governments will have no trouble financing their 2009 budgets despite the current credit crunch and global financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Friday.

IMF specialists for the region explained that some governments already have enough funds to finance their budgets for next year, while those that do not will use part of their reserves.

Amman - King Abdullah II of Jordan is to visit Spain and a number of Latin American countries starting October 18, the royal court announced Wednesday.

The monarch, who will be accompanied by Queen Rania, will visit Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras and Cuba.

Sao Paulo - The global financial crisis unleashed panic Monday in the stock exchange in Sao Paulo: just 18 minutes after the starting bell in the largest stock exchange in Latin America, trading was suspended after the leading index Bovespa fell over 10 per cent.

When trading resumed, stocks continued to fall in relation to the previous day's closing, and trading had to be suspended again, this time for an hour.

Buenos Aires - The US mortgage and credit crisis is sending shivers down the spines of most of the world.

But some in Latin America - the traditional "backyard" of the United States - are looking for a silver lining in the gloomy cloud, while many others will likely suffer.

Mexican multi-billionaire Carlos Slim thinks Latin America's markets can be at least "part of the solution" for the troubled northern giant at times of crisis, and that they are "going to become important for the economy of the United States."