
United States President Barack Obama will dramatically expand the Papahnaumokuakea Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii on Friday, the White House said, an action that will ban commercial fishing from more than 1.5 million sq km of the Pacific Ocean.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro named Chief General Jesus Gonzalez as the country's new ambassador to Iran on Saturday, while announcing the beginning of a new dynamic era in Caracas-Tehran bilateral relations.

Inflation in Argentina during the current month of August could drop to 0.7% because of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the hikes in natural gas prices for residential users, according to the official stats office Indec. Similar stats also indicate a strong contraction of the Argentine economy.

Eight Paraguayan soldiers died on Saturday in a rural roadside explosion, followed by execution of survivors, 500 kilometers north of the capital Asunción, the government said, blaming it on a criminal group which identifies itself as the EPP, acronym for Paraguayan People's Army.

Suspended Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff's former economy minister testified Saturday that Rousseff did not break any laws justifying impeachment, as her trial closed in on next week's climax. Rousseff is accused of taking illegal state loans to help bridge budget shortfalls and mask the true state of the economy during her 2014 reelection campaign. The president argues the charges are trumped up and amount to a rightwing coup.

The foreign ministers of Mercosur founding members will adopt a common position regarding the current disarray of the group following on Venezuela's unilateral attitudes said Paraguayan economic affairs and integration deputy minister Rigoberto Gauto.

The inauguration ceremony of the Vega Pléyade natural gas field offshore Tierra del Fuego scheduled for Friday, has been postponed, although no official explanation has been given, it is believed that Argentine President Mauricio Macri was determined to attend, but his political agenda is too full precisely over the energy controversy and the fact next week he flies to China for the G20 summit.

As part of an international study to be able to deliver more accurate weather forecasts across the South Atlantic, a United States NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) flying laboratory is planning to operate over St Helena this coming weekend, to undertake a series of weather-related measurements.

British Prime Minister Theresa May spoke with President Juan Manuel Santos to congratulate him about the historic peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). President Santos thanked the UK for its central role in helping reach the agreement.

Falkland Islander Debbie Summers was this week voted in as Chair of Cruise New Zealand, the leading voice for the country’s cruise sector. Currently Executive Director of ID New Zealand Destination Management, Debbie left the Falklands nine years ago having progressed the Islands’ cruise ship industry as Tourism Manager for Sulivan Shipping Ltd.