
Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff rejected calls for her resignation on Friday midst a political storm deepened by a massive corruption scandal and blamed her opponents for causing a crisis that has damaged the Brazilian economy. She also confirmed her Finance minister Nelson Barbosa.

Sao Paulo state prosecutors in Brazil are seeking the arrest of former President Lula da Silva on charges of money laundering and identity fraud for concealing ownership of a beachfront apartment, his foundation said on Thursday. The effort to arrest the former president raised the stakes dramatically in the current crisis and was likely to further polarize protests on Sunday calling for the impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff.

European stock markets have fallen and the Euro has soared following the economic stimulus measures announced by the European Central Bank on Thursday. After initially rising following the broader than expected package, Frankfurt closed down 2.3%, Paris ended 1.7% lower and the FTSE 100 slid 1.8%.

Stephen Hawking has called for Britain to stay in the EU, saying that a Brexit would be a disaster for UK science. A letter to the Times newspaper signed by more than 150 fellows of the Royal Society argues that leaving the EU would devastate research.

The member of the Falklands/Malvinas legislative assembly Phyllis Rendell on a private visit to Paraguay openly stated that the South Atlantic archipelago claimed by Argentina is a British Overseas Territory and underlined that the sovereignty issue was settled with a war between the two sides over thirty years ago.

Buckingham Palace said it had launched an official complaint with Britain's press watchdog on Wednesday over a newspaper report that Queen Elizabeth backs a British exit from the European Union, saying the monarch remains politically neutral.

The United States has brought added momentum to global efforts targeting illegal fishing by adhering to a FAO-brokered international pact.US Ambassador to the United Nations agencies in Rome, David Lane, this week formally presented FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva with the US' instrument of ratification of the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.

Spain’s Socialist party would continue to advocate “dialogue and friendship” with Gibraltar even if the UK voted to leave the European Union, the PSOE’s MP for Cádiz said during a visit to the Rock.

President Mauricio Macri has been invited to the European Union and “we are working so that when he arrives we will have several announcements to make and issues to materialize” said Argentine foreign minister Susana Malcorra after meeting in Buenos Aires with Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for foreign affairs.

British Ambassador in Buenos Aires Dr. John Freeman and Mrs Freeman welcomed Ambassador Carlos Sersale Di Cersiano and his partner Linette de Jager to the Residence and congratulated him on his appointment to London. The British ambassador wished both every success in the years ahead.