British PM Theresa May and Scotland’s First Minister clashed at a Downing St Brexit summit dominated by a “very frank exchange of views”, Nicola Sturgeon revealed. Ms Sturgeon branded a warning from Number 10 that the devolved administrations must not try to undermine the UK’s negotiating position as “nonsense” as she labelled the talks between the PM and the leaders of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, as “deeply frustrating”.
President Michel Temer urged Congress on Monday to approve a bill that would ease oil industry regulation and strip state-controlled oil giant Petrobras of some of its privileges in Brazil's most promising oil fields. The proposed regulatory framework would create new jobs and provide a new boost to investment in the sector, Temer said in an address at the opening of the Rio Oil and Gas conference.
Argentine president Mauricio Macri promised his Uruguayan peer Tabare Vazquez to look into the draft of a Uruguay/China free trade deal, and expressed their deep concern about political events in Venezuela suggesting that under the current circumstances the Nicolas Maduro government cannot be considered a member of Mercosur.
Brazil's Petrobras and France's Total oil companies announced on Monday a strategic alliance Monday for upstream and downstream projects as President Michel Temer pronounced Brazil's troubled economy reopened for business.
Uruguay and Argentina, and their cabinets will be meeting this Monday in Buenos Aires to address a bilateral agenda, which was agreed long before hand, but the real issue will not necessarily be trade, dredging canals, pulp mills, customs or facilitating people's movement, but rather the negotiations for a free trade agreement which supposedly Uruguay is about to begin discussing with China.
Argentina’s international currency reserves rose above the landmark US$40 billion for the first time in three and a half years last Friday, as a huge inflow of dollars from government-issued debt and some exports over the last few days caused some dramatic increases this week. The milestone, according to Central Bank chief Federico Sturzenegger, was “a sign of growing investor confidence in the country.”
The fall in the pound has boosted trade in Gibraltar as neighbouring Spaniards flock to the Rock territory where their Euros buy them more, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has said. Gibraltar’s stores and supermarkets are filled with Spanish people picking up their weekly shop.
After New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation on Friday imposing costly fines onto people who advertise illegal rentals online, the housing site Airbnb sued, contending that the law violates freedom of speech and is unconstitutional.
Large banks are getting ready to relocate out of the UK early next year over fears around Brexit, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) has warned. Writing in The Observer its boss Anthony Browne also says smaller banks could move operations overseas by 2017.
Major websites were inaccessible to people across wide swaths of the United States on Friday after a company that manages crucial parts of the internet’s infrastructure said it was under attack. Users reported sporadic problems reaching several websites, including Twitter, Netfix, Spotify, Airbnb, Reddit, Etsy, SoundCloud and The New York Times.