Japan’s parliament elected Yukio Hatoyama as the country’s new prime minister on Wednesday in an historic shift of power.

The vote by the lower house of the parliament was virtually assured.

Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won a landslide election last month, and controls 308 of the lower chamber’s 480 seats.

Earlier, defeated prime minister Taro Aso and his cabinet resigned.

Aso’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had governed the country for nearly half a century.

Handed a sweeping mandate for change, Hatoyama begins the formidable task of delivering on a laundry list of promises intended to lift the country after its worst recession since World War II. much time to make good.

Japan is witnessing historic highs in unemployment and experiencing ramifications like homelessness for the first time.

Japanese PM Yukio Hatoyama has promised economic revival and strong US ties, hours after taking office.

In a news conference, he vowed to deliver a “people-oriented society”, quick economic improvements and frank but trusting ties with Washington.

Mr Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan won a huge poll victory last month, ending 50 years of almost unbroken Liberal Democratic Party rule.

His untested government now controls the world’s second biggest economy.

The new cabinet are due to be sworn in by Emperor Akihito later in the day.

Former DPJ leader Katsuya Okada becomes foreign minister and Hirohisa Fujii, a veteran bureaucrat, takes over as finance minister.

Yukio Hatoyama looks like many who have gone before him, the scion of a wealthy dynasty, the grandson of a former prime minister. But his DPJ has promised profound reform. For decades the LDP, bureaucrats and big business held sway, steering the country from wartime defeat to economic might. But in recent years this brought stagnation, rising unemployment and increasing inequality. Mr Hatoyama wants to build a more ‘fraternal’ society, with a social safety net including a generous child allowance. He wants to turn away from export-led growth and encourage domestic demand. But there are deep concerns over whether the untested new government can deliver the new era they promise.

Another former DPJ leader, Naoto Kan, will head a new National Strategy Bureau set up to oversee the bureaucracy. He also becomes deputy prime minister.

The defeated LDP, meanwhile, will hold an election later this month to choose its new leader, after former Prime Minister Taro Aso stepped down.

The DPJ has entered into a coalition deal with two smaller parties, the Social Democratic Party and the People’s New Party, and controls both houses of parliament.

Its priorities include tackling a rapidly ageing society and an economy still struggling after a brutal recession.

“We would like to carry out policies that will stimulate households so the Japanese people can have hopes for the future,” Mr Hatoyama said.

He has promised to increase social welfare spending, cut government waste and rein in the powerful bureaucracy.

”Now is the time to practise politics that are not controlled by bureaucrats,” he said.

On foreign policy, he said ties with the US were a priority.

But he said he wanted a relationship in which Japan “can act more proactively and tell them our opinions frankly”, adding that his party’s position on reviewing deals relating to the US troop presence had not changed.

The DPJ was elected as a wave of discontent with LDP rule swept across Japan.

Opinion polls have shown many people did not vote for the DPJ because of their policies - but because they wanted change.

Analysts say the electorate will be watching the DPJ closely in the next few weeks and months to see if it can deliver.

The BBC’s Roland Buerk, in Tokyo, says that in defeating the LDP, Yukio Hatoyama has already achieved what many people thought for years was impossible.

But now the really difficult part - governing Japan - begins, our correspondent says.

Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez met and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Tuesday.

The United States fears recent weapons purchases by Venezuela could fuel an arms race in South America, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday.

Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez met and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Tuesday.

“They outpace all other countries in South America and certainly raise the question as to whether there is going to be an arms race in the region,” Clinton said about Venezuela’s arms deals, after a meeting with Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez.

The Russian government Monday extended $2.2 billion in credit to Venezuela to finance arms purchases, including 92 Soviet-era T-72 tanks and short-range missiles with a reach of 55 miles (90 kilometers).

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez also said his nation will purchase an anti-aircraft weapons system with a range of 185 miles (300 kilometers).

The planned arms purchases come at a time when Venezuela is at odds with neighboring Colombia over negotiations that would give U.S. troops access to Colombian military bases.

Chavez has said his military buildup is in response to the growing U.S. presence in the region, which he calls threatening and dangerous to Latin America.

The United States is also concerned about deepening ties between Venezuela and Iran. In addition to ongoing military cooperation, Chavez said in Tehran last week that the Iranian government would help Venezuela develop nuclear technology.

In exchange, Venezuela has offered to export gasoline to Iran, which would give Tehran an out if Western nations impose petroleum sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program. Senior administration officials say Venezuela’s attempt at “sanctions busting” is alarming.

Clinton urged Venezuela to be transparent about its weapons purchases.

Venezuela, she said, “should be putting in place in procedures and practices to ensure that the weapons they buy are not diverted to insurgent groups or illegal organizations like drug trafficking gangs and other criminal cartels.”

Vazquez voiced concern that an arms race in South America would divert funds from badly needed development in poor countries.

“We should devote our energies and resources to fight against the real scourges of our societies … such as drug trafficking and terrorism,” he said. “Instead of spending it in weapons, spending it in housing, good housing for our people, and to further deepen investment, especially in the field of education.”

The powerful European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, has won a second term of office after a majority of Euro MPs voted for him.

Mr Barroso, 53, was the only candidate in the European Parliament vote. A former Portuguese prime minister, he will serve a new five-year term.

In the secret ballot 382 MEPs voted for him, 219 against and 117 abstained.

The Commission president heads the EU’s executive arm. Leaders of the 27 member states have already backed Mr Barroso.

He faced some opposition from Socialists and others on the left in the 736-seat parliament. A total of 718 MEPs took part in Wednesday’s vote.

The Commission drafts EU laws, which then go to the parliament and member states’ governments for approval. The parliament is the only directly elected EU institution.

‘Europe party’

In his acceptance speech, Mr Barroso said that as head of the Commission “my party is going to be Europe”.

“Anyone who wants to come on board for this exciting journey, that is the construction of a united Europe, it is with them that I would like to build the necessary consensus to strengthen the European project,” he told MEPs.

He now faces the task of assembling a new team of 26 other commissioners, who will take office on 1 January. But these appointments cannot begin until Irish voters give their verdict on the Lisbon Treaty in a second referendum on 2 October.

Mr Barroso is the first Commission president to be re-elected since Jacques Delors, who spearheaded EU integration from 1985 to 1994.

Critics accuse Mr Barroso of pandering to national governments and of promoting market liberalism which contributed to the financial crisis.

He pitched openly for the votes of left-wing and liberal MEPs in a speech in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

He emphasised his commitment to social policy, including equal pay for women.

He pledged to look again at existing laws to ensure that established workers were not undercut by cheap labour from other EU states.

Mr Barroso also promised a new post of commissioner for civil liberties and minority rights.

No easy ride

The largest group of MEPs, the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), voiced support for Mr Barroso, but its leader Joseph Daul warned him that “this is not a blank cheque and you will have to fulfil our expectations”.

The leader of the Socialist group (S&D), Martin Schulz, instead called for “a real change of direction in the EU”.

The S&D includes the British Labour group, whose leader Glenis Willmott called for more concrete proposals from the Commission to address the economic crisis.

“Frankly, we are disappointed with what he is currently proposing,” she said in a statement.

“We want action to create employment, new and better jobs, fight mass unemployment - especially youth unemployment - promote equal pay and improve workers’ rights.”

The liberal group ALDE said it would support Mr Barroso, but urged him to beef up banking supervision.

The leader of the Conservative MEPs, Timothy Kirkhope, said Mr Barroso was “the only credible candidate”. The Conservatives are in a new bloc called European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).

“Whilst not perfect, and whilst we have had disagreements with Mr Barroso in the past, and are bound to again in the future, he impressed us when he spoke to our group with his candour, his no-nonsense approach and his commitment not to be swayed by dogmatic socialist ideology,” he said.

A prominent Greens/EFA leader, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, voiced opposition to Mr Barroso, saying “we think we deserve somebody better”. He added that the vote should have been postponed until after the Irish referendum on 2 October.

“Summer Davos” in Dalian, China, saw business leaders arguing risk must make a return for growth.

Is risk-taking back in vogue?

“Summer Davos” in Dalian, China, saw business leaders arguing risk must make a return for growth.

A year after the bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the implosion of Lehman Brothers, more than 1300 business and government leaders met in Dalian for the “Summer Davos” of the World Economic Forum.

Discussions on the dais and on the sidelines of the event swirled around when economic recovery will occur, what shape it will take and what leadership is required.

“We have to look in the mirror … and see that what is in front of us is very different from what we see in the mirror behind us,” said Ben J. Verwaayen, chief executive officer of Alcatel-Lucent.

“This crisis isn’t about when will we restore order; this is about going from one reality to the next reality,” he said. “We’ll have different values, different criteria of success, and different environmental issues to deal with. That will require different leadership.”

Based on interviews and comments of top business leaders at the event, the winners of the new economic order will be leaders who move fast, are transparent in process and take advantage of the economic upheaval to sprint ahead of the competition.

“Many households (brand) names were started in a times of crisis — GE was started during the long depression in 1876; HP at the tail end of the Depression, FedEx during the oil crisis,” said Vivek Ranadive, chairman and chief executive officer of U.S. software maker TIBCO.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says the global recession could cost 25 million people their jobs.

This is despite recent signs that economies of its 30 member countries may be starting to recover.

“A recovery is in sight, but it is likely to be modest for some time to come,” OECD chief Angel Gurria said.

Fifteen million jobs have been lost so far, and up to 10 million more could go by the end of 2010, the OECD said.

The unemployment rate across the 30 most industrialised nations in the OECD was 8.5% for July, the highest since World War II. It was 5.6% at the end of 2007.

‘Bottom line’

The group said that the rate could reach a new high of 10% by the end of next year, with 57 million people out of work, if the recovery fails to gain momentum.

Spain, Ireland and the US have been hardest hit, the report said

“We’ve thrown trillions and trillions and trillions at [the problem] and of course we’re seeing results,” said Mr Gurria, the OECD secretary general, referring to global stimulus efforts.

“Employment is the bottom line of the current crisis. We should not assume that growth will take care of this.”

Spain, the Irish Republic and the US were worst hit in the OECD, with unemployment rates rising by 9.7 percentage points, 7.8 percentage points and 4.5 percentage points respectively between the start of 2007 and July this year, the OECD said.

“As in previous severe economic downturns, vulnerable groups - youth, immigrants and workers in temporary or part-time jobs - are bearing most of the brunt of the job losses,” Mr Gurria said.

The OECD recently said the economies of its members stabilised in the last quarter.

While Japan, France and Germany are some of the economies to show economic growth in the second quarter, latest figures showed countries such as the US and UK were still shrinking.