
Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told Folha de Sao Paulo early Friday that he has decided not to turn himself at the Federal Police in Curitiba where he must serve a 12-year prison sentence for corruption, as ordered by judge Sergio Moro.

United States President Donald Trump, engaged in an escalating confrontation with Beijing over trade, will urge Latin American leaders next week to work with the United States – not China – on trade, a senior US official said on Thursday. Trump’s trip to Lima, Peru, for the Summit of the Americas has been prefaced by aggressive moves on trade and immigration.

The United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF) support available for trade with Uruguay has been increased to up to £4 billion, meaning an additional £2.25 billion in support for UK companies exporting to Uruguay and for Uruguayan buyers of UK goods and services.

Argentina's Defense minister has sparked a political storm after appearing to imply the Falkland Islands are British. Oscar Aguad has been accused by the Buenos Aires media of suggesting that the Islands were not part of Argentine territory.

Italian energy group Edison, part of French utility EDF, is preparing the sale of its oil and gas unit, the latest power producer to abandon fossil fuels to focus on its retail business, four industry sources said, and quoted by Reuters. Its oil and gas unit includes interests in the Falkland Islands.

Fireworks followed rain on Thursday as the 21st Commonwealth Games opened on the Gold Coast, Australia, complete with a beach party featuring dancing lifeguards and a floating white whale and a musical soundtrack that included a didgeridoo maestro and aboriginal rapper.

The Argentine Navy has confirmed that Russia has ended its help in the search for the missing ARA San Juan submarine that disappeared in the South Atlantic with 44 crew-members aboard in November.

Wednesday marked the opening ceremony of the 21st Commonwealth Games which are being held from 4 -15 April at the Gold Coast in Australia. This is the tenth Commonwealth Games that the Falkland Islands have participated in and this time they will be competing alongside more than 6,600 athletes and team officials from 70 Commonwealth nations and territories.

The Commissioner for South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands, Nigel Phillips CBE, returned on March 17th from his visit to South Georgia where he was accompanied by representatives of some of South Georgia’s key partners and stakeholders.

The organization responsible for coordinating European air traffic says it has fixed an earlier fault which led to widespread flight delays on Tuesday. Eurocontrol earlier said that delays could affect up to half of all flights in Europe - about 15,000 trips.