
Government owned and the largest in the country in assets, Banco do Brasil received this week approval from China’s regulator to open a commercial branch in the country which is Brazil’s main trading partner.

The European Union reached a landmark deal on Thursday to make the European Central Bank the bloc's top banking supervisor, giving EU leaders greater confidence that they are gaining the upper hand over the Euro zone's debt crisis.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist, has released today its 2013 where-to-be-born index, which measures which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead. Argentina is ranked in position 40, behind Chile, Brazil and Mexico, and far worse than when the first index published in 1988.

The European Union Trade Commissioner openly accused “Argentina’s behaviour” as the main obstacle in discussions to advance and reach a free trade agreement with Mercosur.

One billion tourists have traveled the world in 2012, marking a new record for international tourism – a sector that accounts for one in every 12 jobs and 30% of the world’s services exports. On the symbolic arrival date of the one-billionth tourist, 13 December 2012, UNWTO revealed the actions tourists can take to ensure their trips benefit the people and places they visit, as voted by the public.

A Royal Navy warship used a routine logistical visit to Gibraltar on Wednesday to patrol British waters around the Rock. The highly unusual move came a day after an incursion by a Spanish Navy vessel and against the background of diplomatic tension between the UK and Spain over the waters row.

The British Government reaffirmed its commitment to trilateral dialogue, despite claims from Spain that London and Madrid would discuss the waters row on bilateral terms leaving Gibraltar aside. A spokesman for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office said trilateral dialogue was the only acceptable mechanism for “formal” talks about Gibraltar.

A Spanish warship made a two-hour incursion into Gibraltar waters on Monday evening, in a defiant response to Britain’s warnings to stay away. The incursion came just hours after the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, told the House of Commons that Britain would take “a grave view” of any violation of British sovereignty in Gibraltar waters.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a credit program for Argentina of 6 billion dollars until 2015, destined to works in the region known as Norte Grande, and Greater Buenos Aires, the Economy Ministry stated in a communiqué.

A legal clause that is the key to smoothing future debt restructurings could be undermined by a US court ruling that Argentina must pay creditors holding its defaulted debt.