
Colombia's Democratic Center party founded by former president Alvaro Uribe criticized on Sunday The New York Times for a recent editorial accusing the ex head of government of blocking the peace process in the country and calling on him to act as a true statesman. The party said that the NYT editorial constitutes an offence to the millions of Colombians who voted against the terms of the peace accord between the government and the main guerrilla group, FARC.

Amid fears of threats posed by protectionism, the BRICS countries have vowed to deepen economic engagement, tackle the global economic slowdown, and combat cross border terrorism. The leaders of the five emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa wrapped up a summit Sunday in Goa, in western India.

Tensions inside Mercosur can be attributed to the fact that Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay share a development economic model which distances them from Venezuela, and are prepared to advance in trade negotiations with the European Union, and even with the Pacific Alliance. Venezuela on the other hand has as its main priority putting the deteriorated economy back on the growth track, according to the UN regional economic commission ECLAC, chair Alicia Barcena.

Two Uruguayan young scientists are on board Ice Patrol HMS Protector en route to the Falkland Islands and Antarctica and will be participating in a research program on human impact on the Antarctic marine environment including pollution mainly by plastic made products. Federico Weinstein and Carolina Rodríguez belong to the Faculty of Sciences and represent the resumption of long standing links between the Ice Patrol and Montevideo.

The Argentine government feels upset and deeply disappointed with the announced British military exercises in the Falklands/Malvinas, which includes the launching of missiles, but nevertheless the government will continue working to build the opportunity of a dialogue which eliminates the presumptions of conflict with the UK, said foreign minister Susana Malcorra on Saturday in the Vatican.

By José María Figueres (*) - The key to protecting Antarctica’s Ross Sea may well lie with Russia. On Monday the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, comprising 24 nations and the European Union, will discuss, once again, the creation of a large, marine protected area in the Southern Ocean.

Maldives ministry of foreign affairs announced on Friday its decision to quit the Commonwealth of Nations after the organization issued a warning to the country that it could be suspended because of its failure to promote the rule of the law and democracy.

Gibraltar Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Joseph Garcia has said it should be possible for different parts of the British family of nations to enjoy varying degrees of participation with the European Union in the future. Dr. Garcia was speaking in Glasgow during the Scottish National Party conference, in the presence of Scotland’s Minister for Europe and International Development Dr. Alisdair Allan MSP.

Argentina formally complained on Friday about military exercises with missiles that Britain is planning this month in the disputed Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. Argentina's foreign ministry said in a statement that it had sent a letter to the British ambassador Mark Kent demanding the country call off the illegitimate exercises, which are scheduled for Oct. 19-28 and include the launching of Rapier missiles.

Unesco, the United Nations’ cultural agency on Thursday passed a draft resolution that played down Jewish ties to religious sites in Jerusalem, in a decision Israel called “absurd.” The resolution from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or Unesco, heavily criticized Israel’s actions toward holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City.