International

• Monday, October 24th 2016 - 18:11 UTC

  First Mercosur test for Uruguay´s free trade agreement negotiations with China

  

  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.

• Monday, October 24th 2016 - 11:51 UTC

  Spaniards flock to Gibraltar for shopping taking advantage of the weak pound

  

  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.

• Monday, October 24th 2016 - 11:42 UTC

  Catholic Church and Macri have a 'mature relation of autonomy and cooperation'

  

  The relation between the Catholic church and the administration of president Mauricio Macri is “a mature relation” and “links are as they should be”, and this is based on “autonomy and cooperation which is good for both sides”, according to Monsignor Jose Maria Arancedo, head of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, CEA.

• Monday, October 24th 2016 - 10:43 UTC

  Rajoy on course to a minority government; Socialists decide to abstain in confidence vote

  

  Spain’s conservative leader Mariano Rajoy was on course to secure a second term in power for his People’s Party (PP) on Sunday after his Socialist rivals agreed to abstain in a looming confidence vote, ending 10 months of political deadlock. Spain has been stuck in political limbo following national elections in December and June which left no single party with a majority, paralyzing institutions and threatening to derail an economic recovery.

• Monday, October 24th 2016 - 08:36 UTC

  Large banks preparing to relocate out of UK over Brexit fears warns BBA

  

  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.

• Sunday, October 23rd 2016 - 07:18 UTC

  First of the UK’s new nuclear deterrent submarines has been named “Dreadnought”

  

  The United Kingdom Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has announced that, to mark Trafalgar Day, Her Majesty the Queen has graciously approved that ‘Dreadnought’, one of the most famous names in the Royal Navy, will become the lead boat and class name for the Royal Navy’s new successor submarines.

• Sunday, October 23rd 2016 - 06:50 UTC

  Rapprochement with Cuba: Four decades ago Jimmy Carter tried to come to terms with Havana

  

  Four decades ago, U.S. ex president James Carter tried to do in secret what Barack Obama finally achieved publicly and in a less adverse context: to start a process to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba. In a long article, the Cuban newspaper Granma reveals that Carter (1976/1980) had been the only US president who set in writing his intention to promote dialogue between Washington and Havana.

• Sunday, October 23rd 2016 - 06:31 UTC

  Hackers' coordinated 'attacks' leave major websites inaccessible in the US

  

  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.

• Saturday, October 22nd 2016 - 10:20 UTC

  Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Voyages will be operating from Miami by 2020

  

  Sir Richard Branson’s new Caribbean cruise line is moving forward, and it’s got a new name. At a press conference in Miami on Tuesday, the new cruise line announced that it will now operate under the name Virgin Voyages.

• Saturday, October 22nd 2016 - 09:33 UTC

  US receives Monday OAS Electoral observation mission ahead of 8 November vote

  

  Next Monday, October 24th, the Chief of the Organization of American States Electoral Observation Mission (OAS/EOM) to the United States, former Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla, will begin a preliminary visit to the United States during which she will hold meetings with key authorities and stakeholders of the electoral process in the states of Georgia and Pennsylvania, as well as the District of Columbia.