
The bilateral conflict between Argentina and Uruguay over the UPM/Botnia pulp mill, on the Uruguayan side of the Uruguay River is once again leading to tension between the two neighbours amid reports that the plant’s Finnish owners plan to increase production from 1.1 to 1.3 million tons of cellulose paste per year.

The US economy grew at an annualised pace of 2.5% in the second quarter of the year, the Commerce Department said in revised figures. That was more than double the pace recorded in the previous three months, and above estimates of 2.2%.

“We have come for people-to-people contacts, to talk about business opportunities and for the resumption of the close and historic links between the Falkland Islands and Uruguay”, repeated Falklands’ lawmaker Dick Sawle during one of his many presentations in Montevideo.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said his organization and future games hosts must overcome the challenge of convincing the wider public about the benefits of staging sports’ biggest event.

Over the past decade China has become a key partner for Latin America and the Caribbean with bilateral trade increasing 22 fold between 2000 and 2012, albeit with a strong deficit for Latin American countries, according to Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) has claimed the lawsuit filed against it by the US Justice Department was retaliation against its decision to downgrade the US's credit rating.

“A recent decision by a United States appeals court threatens to upend global sovereign-debt markets. It may even lead to the US no longer being viewed as a good place to issue sovereign debt. At the very least, it renders non-viable all debt restructurings under the standard debt contracts.

Advanced economies led by the United States will increasingly drive global growth while emerging countries are at risk of slowing due to tighter US monetary policy, the IMF said in a note according to Reuters news agency.

Chile's central bank cut its forecast range for 2013 GDP growth but maintained inflation and domestic demand predictions as the effects of a slowdown hitting copper demand are moderated by consumer spending.

Microsoft has agreed a deal to buy Nokia's mobile phone business for 5.4bn Euros. Nokia will also license its patents and mapping services to Microsoft. Nokia shares jumped 35% on the news, whereas Microsoft's fell more than 5%. The purchase is set to be completed in early 2014, when about 32.000 Nokia employees will transfer to Microsoft.