Argentine president Cristina Fernandez is flying Saturday to Emirates the first leg of a trade tour that includes the Far East after spending 24 hours in Cuba where she met the Castro brothers, visited the relatives of cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez and late Friday held a mini summit with Venezuelan Vice president Nicolas Maduro and Peruvian head of state Ollanta Humala.
Disappointing figures on industrial production and construction in November have added to fears that the UK economy contracted in the last quarter of 2012. The index of production grew 0.3% in November, compared with October, but had been expected to grow more as some North Sea oil and gas production resumed following maintenance.
Twenty four countries from South America and Africa with coast on the Atlantic Ocean will be debating next week in Uruguay how to increase cooperation in several fields such as environment, charting and seabed resources exploration and fighting organized crime.
European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi spoke on Thursday of a positive contagion in the Euro zone economy, saying that the financial situation is improving and growth is set to return in the second half of the year.
The Bank of England on Thursday decided not to extend its quantitative easing (QE) stimulus program, which has injected £375bn into the UK financial system. It is also keeping its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, where it has been since March 2009.
The United Nations reported on Thursday that food prices fell for the third month in a row in December last year, balancing out sharp increases registered earlier in 2012, which had previously sparked fears of a food crisis.
Argentine president Cristina Kirchner targeted the UK for “threatening” to come “to militarize and invade our Malvinas Islands” following the announcement that an additional 150 British soldiers are been sent to the Falklands and PM David Cameron recent warnings on support of the Islands.
By Anka Mulder - Over the next decade, it is estimated by the World Economic Forum (WEF) that the global economy will need to create some 600 million new jobs to preserve social cohesion, and ensure sustainable growth. In the midst of ongoing economic fragility across much of the world, this poses a monumental challenge, and will thus be one of the topics discussed at WEF annual meeting in Davos later this month.
US crude oil production is expected to rise by the largest amount on record in 2013, the Energy Information Administration said, and is set to soar by almost a quarter over the next two years.
Rockhopper Exploration which discovered oil offshore the Falkland Islands in 2010 at its Sea Lion prospect is planning a minimum of three exploration and appraisal wells on its North Falkland Basin acreage in 2014 including Sea Lion satellites Casper, Casper South, and Beverley.