
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.

In his last United Nations Day message as Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon recognized the efforts of courageous UN staff members who are on the frontlines of disaster and violence and continue to respond to the plight of the vulnerable people across the world.

Representatives from more than 80 nations will square off in Slovenia this week over the fate of the world’s remaining whales as hunters, ship strikes and fishing gear threaten their survival. The stage is set for heated debate, as the 88 members of the International Whaling Commission are deeply divided along pro- and anti-hunting lines.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.