
U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday announced his intention to nominate Roberta Jacobson, the assistant secretary of state for Latin America and the chief U.S. negotiator at the talks to resume diplomatic relations with Cuba, as the new ambassador to Mexico, the White House announced in a communiqué.

Good news for South America: FIFA will not make any changes to the allocation of World Cup slots among the six continents for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments in Russia and Qatar, president Sepp Blatter said during the first meeting of the new Executive Committee in Zurich.

The United States on Friday formally dropped Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, the US State Department said in a statement. The removal of Cuba from the US terrorism list eliminates an obstacle toward restoring diplomatic ties between the United States and the communist-led Caribbean island state after 54 years.

The former Foreign Minister of Uruguay Luis Almagro Lemes took office on Tuesday as Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) during a meeting of the Permanent Council at the headquarters of the Organization in Washington, DC.

Belize and Guatemala signed on Monday the Protocol to the Special Agreement which will allow the governments of both nations to separately hold public consultations with a view to submitting their territorial dispute to the International Court of Justice.

Mexico will compensate China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) $1.31m for cancelling a $3.75bn high-speed rail contract. CRCC was at the head of a consortium that had won the project last year, which was abruptly revoked shortly after being awarded.

Chile and China have enjoyed a positive and fruitful relationship and bilateral ties will further develop very strongly in the future, anticipated Chilean President Michelle Bachelet during an interview with Xinhua prior to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's upcoming visit

China and Peru have agreed to study the feasibility of a controversial 5,300 km transcontinental railroad that will connect Peru's Pacific coast with Brazil's Atlantic coast, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.

A strong El Niño is likely to increase prices of staple foods such as rice, coffee, sugar and cocoa, say scientists. Forecasters agree that the El Niño effect, which can drive droughts and flooding, is under way in the tropical Pacific, but they say it is too early to say how severe it will be.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang vowed to deepen economic ties with Colombia after arriving to Bogotá on Thursday, as part of his four-nation South American tour aimed at boosting trade and investment. Li is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Colombia since the two nations established diplomatic ties 35 years ago and his visit was hailed as historic by President Juan Manuel Santos.