
Argentina’s Rafael Grossi has resigned as assistant director-general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), sparking speculation as to whether his exit might be linked to Argentina’s agreement earlier this year with Iran.

Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile will be hosting until next Thursday the four-day annual meeting of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, IAATO which has a confirmed attendance of over a hundred representatives from the industry.

The leader of Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, Beppe Grillo, criticised the re-election of President Giorgio Napolitano as a desperate attempt to retain power by a discredited establishment.

Britain's credit standing took a further blow when Fitch Ratings became the second major international agency to strip the country of its top-notch credit rating. The move is an embarrassment for the Conservative-led government which promised to protect the country's rating when it took power in 2010, and will heighten the debate about whether austerity is still the right approach.

Gibraltar will commemorate, not celebrate the 300 year old Treaty of Utrecht this year, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, told members of the Fabian Society in London earlier this week. The treaty refers to the cession in perpetuity by Spain to the British Crown of Gibraltar in 1713 under Article X of the agreement which put an end to the War of Spanish Succession (1701/1714)

Two US hedge funds suing Argentina for full payment on defaulted bonds rejected on Friday, President Cristina Fernandez government offer to settle the suit with a deal that would give them approximately 25% of what they were seeking.

Italy’s centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani announced his resignation after party rebels sabotaged two separate candidates he had backed for state president, deepening the country’s political stalemate.

The new strain of bird flu that has killed 17 people in China has been circulating widely under the radar and has acquired significant genetic diversity that makes it more of a threat, warned scientists.

Argentine Economy Minister Hernán Lorenzino is in Washington ready to start his official activities in the margins of the 2013 International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring meeting.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde has been summoned to appear before a French magistrate on May 23 for questioning over an arbitration payment to a wealthy supporter of former President Nicholas Sarkozy, news website Mediapart reported.