
Argentina is battling to escape from a messy ninth sovereign default as it firefights recession, stubborn inflation, and increasingly wary investors. The country announced on Tuesday it had reached an agreement with creditors to restructure around US$ 65 billion in foreign debt, breaking a deadlock over recent weeks and setting the stage for a formal deal later this month.

Planning and first budget funds for an Argentine integrated naval base and an Antarctic Logistic Pole in Ushuaia have been announced by the Argentine Executive cabinet chief Santiago Cafiero, during a presentation to the Lower House of Congress.

The gloom surrounding Brazil’s economy lifted for a fifth week in a row, a central bank survey of economists showed on Monday, with the average forecast for 2020 gross domestic product now showing a decline of 5.7%.

Argentina and most of its top creditors are moving closer to an agreement to restructure US$ 65 billion of bonds, according to government sources in the Buenos Aires media. Likewise, the prospects of an agreement triggered a bonds rally, and the Merval stock index gained 6,6% the most in a month.

By S. Pelin Berkmen and Natasha Che – On June 29th, when some 250,000 students returned to classrooms in Montevideo, Uruguay reached a post-COVID-19 normalization milestone that is still a distant aspiration for most of Latin America. While the virus still rages on throughout the Americas, Uruguay’s daily count of new cases had been in the single digit for most days since May, despite the recent incipient outbreaks.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's chief of staff, Army General Walter Souza Braga Netto, has tested positive for COVID-19, his office said on Monday (Aug 3), becoming the seventh Brazilian minister to have contracted the disease.

Italy inaugurated a sleek new bridge in Genoa on Monday, though relatives of the 43 people killed when the old viaduct collapsed said the pomp and ceremony risked overshadowing the tragedy.

Gibraltar has taken notice of the reports in the UK's press which confirm that, for several years, Spain has been actively engaged in anti-Gibraltar lobbying in Washington DC.

People across Britain enjoyed half-price meals on Monday as the government launched its Eat Out to Help Out scheme aimed at driving up business in the shattered hospitality industry after months of coronavirus lockdown.

Spain's former king Juan Carlos, who is facing investigation at home and abroad for corruption, announced on Monday that he will go into exile. The 82-year-old revealed he would leave the country in a letter to his son, the current King Felipe VI who accepted his decision and thanked him, the royal palace said in a statement.