Oil prices have surged to a two-and-a-half-year high on concerns about supply and a weaker dollar. Brent crude topped $126, while US crude was at $112.79.
United States congressional leaders have agreed on a budget deal to fund the US government for the rest of the fiscal year, just before a midnight deadline. It will reportedly cut 39 billion USD from the budget over last year's levels between now and 30 September.
Protests erupted across much of the Arab world on the Muslim day of prayer, with demonstrators killed in Syria and Yemen while Egyptians staged one of the biggest rallies since President Hosni Mubarak's fall.
Former Uruguayan president Tabaré Vázquez denied this week that he ever said that his Argentine counterparts Néstor and Cristina Kirchner are “fascists”, like Wikileaks cables stated.
Chile and the world’s southernmost town, Puerto Williams, is to open up to mass tourism under a new investment program approved by the government.