
Evo Morales has become the first Bolivian President to visit Russia, after touching down in Moscow on Sunday. Morales is expected to sign crucial natural gas cooperation agreements and seek aid to combat drugs.
The visit is also viewed as another sign of Russia's increased interest in Latin America.
Morales told reporters on Friday that he would discuss the immediate purchase of helicopters and loans of other aircraft to fight coca production when he visits Russia.

The Royal Navy has confirmed that a British nuclear submarine collided with a French one in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The crash between HMS Vanguard and France's Le Triomphant - both carrying atomic weapons - is believed to have occurred on February 3 or 4.

The World Bank Group is sponsoring with 61.5 million US dollars the construction of the first wind farm in Chile, advancing the development of renewable energy in Chile.

Industry group Oil & Gas UK said the combination of low oil prices and the freezing of capital markets will have a marked effect on exploration and development activity in the UK over the next 12-18 months.

Brazil's PETROBRAS oil company was the first company to acquire the bid sheet for hydrocarbon exploration contracts in areas of the Uruguayan continental platform.

Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol and its South Korean counterpart, Korea National Oil Corporation, have acquired Peruvian private oil firm Petro-Tech Peruana S.A. for 900 million US dollars.

Oil and gas exploration company Desire Petroleum Plc with licences to operate in the Falkland Islands said that the environmental impact assessment on two tranches in its southern licences in the North Falkland Basin was slightly behind schedule due to a delay in a sampling analysis results.

Bolivia and Russia signed a long term agreement on investment and cooperation in the area of gas and petroleum research which is estimated could reach 3 billion US dollars, it was announced in La Paz.

Brazil needs to increase its electricity generation capacity by 50% over the next 10 years said Energy Minister Edson Lobao, who described the task as an enormous challenge.

The US Senate has passed an economic stimulus plan expected to cost some 838 billion US dollars. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 61-37 to approve the measure, with few Republicans opting to back it.