
A draft Islands Plan 2008-12, setting out the Falkland Islands government's ambitions and promises for the next five years, has been issued for consultation with the community and stakeholders.

Falklands'Councillor Mike Summers has praised the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office for their unwavering message on sovereignty.

Contrary to what happened a week ago in the Argentine Congress, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Uruguay's leader Tabare Vazquez made no reference to the pulp mill conflict and exchanged praise and polite gestures during the 34th Mercosur presidential summit held Tuesday in Montevideo.

Israel signed Tuesday in Uruguay a free trade agreement with Mercosur, the first ever the South American trade group subscribes with a country outside Latinamerica. Israel's Deputy Minister and Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce Eliahu Yishai traveled to Montevideo for the event.

Mercosur presidential summit which begins Tuesday does not have much to show besides an unfinished agenda, pending proposals and a list of issues that if openly debated can prove explosive for an already anemic trade group.

Bolivian President Evo Morales has formally received a new draft constitution, ahead of two referendums due on its reform measures.

Mercosur and Israel will subscribe a free trade agreement, parallel to the group's two day presidential summit scheduled for next week in Montevideo, Uruguay, when Argentina will be taking the six months chair.

Predictably prospective Falkland Islands councillors condemned the Argentine claim to the Islands in electioneering speeches Wednesday evening.

Víctor Filichkin, head of Russian energy company Intermash, visited Chile last week to promote a potential nuclear solution to Chile's energy needs. Filichkin's visit coincides with the arrival of the new U.S. ambassador to Chile – touted as a nuclear energy expert – and the recent visit by Mohamed El Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

More than two weeks after the ship M/S Explorer sank in Bransfield Strait off the coast of Antarctica, experts are questioning the official explanation of why the vessel sank.