FIFA has demanded Brazil’s World Cup organizers stage one final test event at the Sao Paulo stadium staging the June 12 opener. The Brazilian league schedule has been re-jigged to accommodate Corinthians match against Brazilian champions Cruzeiro at the 68,000-seat Itaquerao, which is still unfinished, on June first.
A major gas deal between Russia and China was finally sealed this week when Russian President Vladimir Putin was on a two day visit to China on May 20-21 and met with President Xi Jinping. In the lead up to Putin's arrival, the two sides have been working on putting the finishing touches on a 30-year contract for a gas deal a decade in the making, and Russian officials have suggested that the deal will be completed by Putin's arrival.
The former chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, who during eight years piloted the world’s largest economy through the worst financial and economic crisis since the Depression of last century, is now reaping the fruits of his success.
Former President of Costa Rica, José María Figueres, has begun the deployment of 64 international experts and observers in Colombia ahead of the country’s presidential election on Sunday May 25.
Federal Reserve policymakers last month began laying groundwork for an eventual retreat from easy monetary policy with a discussion of how to best control interest rates as they remove trillions of dollars from the financial system.
Mediators from Unasur (Union of South American Nations) urged Venezuela's government and opposition back to the negotiating table after failing to revive talks to stem months of protests in the polarized nation.
President Dilma Rousseff has “guaranteed” Brazil's airports will be prepared to welcome visitors for the World Cup, which starts on June 12 in São Paulo. Rousseff made the comments on her weekly ''Breakfast with the President'' national radio program following criticism that a number of airports which were promised to be completed for the key football tournament remain unfinished.
The centre right has extended its lead over the centre left in the race for dominance in the European Parliament elections this week, a poll showed, but both sides are expected to fiercely contest the presidency of the European Commission.
China has summoned the US ambassador who had accused five Chinese military officers of hacking into American companies to steal trade secrets, warning Washington it could take further action, the foreign ministry has said.
The Gibraltar Government is strengthening its lobbying presence in Brussels and Washington in order to ensure that the profile of Gibraltar is heightened at a political level. The Government plans to expand its representation in Brussels along similar lines to the Gibraltar London office.