
China National Petroleum Corp., the country’s largest oil producer, is nearing an agreement to buy Petrobras assets in Peru for more than 2 billion dollars. The proposed deal may be announced as soon as next month, according to sources quoted by Bloomberg.

Simon Manley CMG, a member of the UK’s Diplomatic Service since 1990 on Monday 28 October succeeds Giles Paxman as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Spain and non-resident Ambassador to Andorra.

A Chinese top government think tank has unveiled a detailed road map for a series of far-reaching economic policy changes, in one of the strongest indications yet that the Communist Party intends to stay on the path of reform

The Argentine government yesterday appealed an order by US Judge Thomas Griesa who asked some private banks to turn over information about Argentina’s assets abroad. The case had been started by hedge fund Elliott Management Corp’s NML Capital Ltd which is demanding in court full 100% payment of Argentine sovereign bonds face value.

The Paraguayan foreign affairs ministry will represent Mercosur next December when the exchange of proposals with the European Union for a long pending free trade agreement, announced Uruguayan president Jose Mujica on Friday following private talks with his visiting peer from Paraguay, Horacio Cartes.

President Horacio Cartes although admitting he is heart and mind committed to Mercosur, Paraguay's full return to Mercosur is in the hands of diplomacy since as head of state he must abide strictly by the rule of the law.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded that the United States strike a no-spying agreement with Berlin and Paris by the end of the year, saying alleged espionage against two of Washington's closest EU allies had to be stopped.

Representatives from six British top universities will be visiting Chile to promote the study opportunities available in the United Kingdom. The six leading British universities attending the road-show between 24-30 October are all world-renowned research-intensive institutions.

The United States company Stryker Corp., the second-largest seller of orthopaedic devices, will pay more than 13.2 million dollars to settle U.S. regulatory claims that subsidiaries paid bribes in five countries to gain or retain business.

The United States monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders according to classified documents leaked by fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden, Britain's Guardian newspaper said.