
Voters in Ecuador will be going to the polls on Sunday for the presidential runoff and a choice between a traditional South American leftist and a conservative ex-banker, that will steer the oil exporting country for the next four years. It will also show if South Americans are effectively abandoning populist ideas as happened in Argentina, Peru and Brazil.

Venezuela's pro-government Supreme Court on Saturday revoked its controversial annulment of the opposition-led Congress amid international condemnation and protests against populist president Nicolas Maduro. Unprecedented pressure from other Latin American nations and dissent within its own ranks, and the military, appear to have been the catalyst for the court reversing its Wednesday ruling.

Argentina prepares to commemorate this Sunday the Malvinas War Veterans and Fallen Day, which according to the official calendar marks the 35th anniversary of the start of the 1982 war when the Falklands were invaded by Argentine forces, leading to a 74-day conflict, which left 907 dead, (649 Argentines, 255 British and three Falkland Islanders).

A protester was killed in Paraguay after violent clashes overnight sparked by a secret Senate vote for a constitutional amendment that would allow conservative President Horacio Cartes to run for re-election. The political move also had the support and Senate votes from the left leaning former removed president Fernando Lugo, which polls show he has significant support ahead of the 2018 presidential election.

Protesters stormed and set fire to Paraguay's Congress on Friday after the Senate secretly voted for a constitutional amendment that would allow President Horacio Cartes to run for re-election, a change that will also require approval by the Lower House. The country's constitution has prohibited re-election since it was passed in 1992 after a brutal dictatorship fell in 1989.

Venezuela's chief prosecutor broke with the government on Friday and rebuked a Supreme Court decision stripping Congress of its last vestiges of power, showing a crack in the unity of the embattled populist government of President Nicolas Maduro as it came under a torrent of international condemnation over what many decried as a major step toward dictatorship.

The Falkland Islands has approved the commencement of work that will lead to the delivery of new port facilities to support economic growth into the next decade. According to a release from the Falklands elected government, the new work will build on the substantial previous studies completed in 2012 and 2014, which investigated the viability of various sites, and resources are expected to be allocated during the 2017/18 budget process.

Since 1967, the Falkland Islands Journal has been an independent annual academic publication on all aspects of the history, natural history and geography of the Falkland Islands and associated regions. Special features are included each year. The emphasis is on recording the culture, heritage and natural environment of the Falkland Islands.

The Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia this morning presented the Gibraltar Medallion of Honor to Congressman George Holding in the Capitol Building in Washington. The presentation took place in the Lincoln Room, once used by Abraham Lincoln to lobby members of Congress.

The Venezuelan Supreme Court's decision late Wednesday to take control of the opposition-controlled legislature has set off a wave of outrage, with some hemispheric neighbors, including the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Peru and Argentina, denouncing the measure as a threat to democracy.