
Falkland Islands will this month begin to grapple with the big questions about how oil and gas development will impact on their society and culture. The start of a series of focus groups run as part of the Social Effects Monitoring Programme study, led by Regeneris Consulting, and Falkland Island partners Karen Lee and Carolyn Montgomerie, reports the Penguin News in its latest edition.

Germany wants to speed negotiations for a free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, said Foreign minister Walter Steinmeier in Brasilia. The agreement has been pending since 1999 when discussions started but so far have been unable to reach a deal or commit a date because of internal problems from both sides.

Argentina's top officials will meet on Thursday with representatives from the Argentine Industrial Union, UIA, to discuss some clauses and aspects of the recent agreements signed between China and Argentina last week, and which have been questioned by the manufacturers' lobby.

US holders of defaulted Argentine bonds have stepped up their campaign for full repayment of their loans by detailing how 14 senior Argentine officials experienced “dramatic and often unexplained increases” in their personal wealth during service in the Kirchner administrations.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's on Monday downgraded Venezuelan long-term credit ratings to CCC from CCC+, citing falling oil prices and the government's failure to address economic distortions.

A new record price for an artwork, nearly 300 million dollars, may have been achieved with the sale of a Paul Gauguin canvas by a Swiss collector. The buyer is rumored to be the Qatar Museums.

Qatar Airways has emerged as the owner of a 10% stake in International Airlines Group (IAG), the owner of British Airways (BA) and Iberia. The Gulf airline is already a member of the Oneworld Alliance.

President Cristina Fernandez expressed her satisfaction for the over 1,000 businessmen that attended the Argentinean-Chinese forum she presided in Beijing and praised the 'strategic partnership' with China. The president also rejected criticism voiced by the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) against her trip to China and the bilateral deals reached.

Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd has confirmed that the Eirik Raude rig has commenced mobilization from West Africa to the Falkland Islands for the 2015 drilling program, which will be operated by Premier Oil and Noble Energy.

The construction of the Nestor Kirchner and Jorge Cepernic dams in Santa Cruz, Patagonia is finally set to begin now that China has deposited the first 287.7 million dollars tranche of funding for the massive 4.71 billion project, Argentine President Cristina Fernández announced before leaving for a state visit to China.