Politics

• Saturday, July 26th 2014 - 05:54 UTC

  Gibraltar praises call for dialogue with Madrid from Spanish politicians

  

  The Gibraltar government welcomed the call by three senior Spanish politicians for Spain, the UK and Gibraltar to engage in dialogue. The call was made public in a joint statement issued by former senior Spanish politicians Pepe Carracao, Rafael Roman and Salvador de la Encina.

• Saturday, July 26th 2014 - 05:45 UTC

  FIFA rejects calls to strip Russia of the 2018 World Cup over Ukraine crisis

  

  Amid mounting criticism of Russia over the MH17 plane tragedy and conflict with Ukraine, FIFA rejects calls for the country to be stripped of 2018 World Cup hosting rights and says a boycott is no solution to the crisis.

• Friday, July 25th 2014 - 21:22 UTC

  “Malvinas banner” display costs Argentina 30.000 Swiss francs fine

  

  FIFA has fined the Argentine Football Association 30,000 Swiss francs (£19,540) as punishment for the displaying of a provocative banner relating to the Falkland Islands.

• Friday, July 25th 2014 - 06:26 UTC

  Uruguay oil and gas summit schedules for next November

  

  Global Summits Organizer IRN and Grupo BG de Eventos will be launching the inaugural Uruguay Oil & Gas 2014 Summit which will take place on 17th-18th November in the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo. This Summit follows the announcement of the third oil bidding round, the Ronda Uruguay III.

• Friday, July 25th 2014 - 06:22 UTC

  Brazil wants to speed Mercosur/Pacific Alliance free trade understanding

  

  Brazil will propose next Tuesday, in Caracas, during the Mercosur summit that the group and the Pacific Alliance reach an agreement on free trade by the end of the year, according to official sources from Itamaraty.

• Friday, July 25th 2014 - 06:09 UTC

  Mercosur is 'not working' because of protectionism and lack of arbitration

  

  Mercosur is “not working” and is “stalled” admitted Uruguayan president Jose Mujica and blamed the situation on different visions of the block's functioning, according to an interview with Folha de Sao Paulo.

• Friday, July 25th 2014 - 05:58 UTC

  Argentines consider Mujica far “more honest” than Cristina Fernandez

  

  An 'honesty' ranking by Argentine pollster, Giacobbe & Associates, based on 500 names, both alive and deceased, shows the country's public opinion poor belief in the political system, with president Cristina Fernández ranked 38, fourteen positions down from a similar poll last year and behind her Uruguayan peer Jose Mujica ranked 11.

• Friday, July 25th 2014 - 05:49 UTC

  Holdouts lash out at Argentina: “it is choosing to default next week”

  

  NML Capital Ltd, one of the lead holdout creditors in Argentina's sovereign bond dispute said on Thursday the Argentine government refused to negotiate through a mediator and was all but preparing to default on already restructured debt.

• Friday, July 25th 2014 - 05:36 UTC

  Argentina/holdouts will meet again on Friday; “issues remain unresolved”

  

  Daniel A. Pollack, the Special Master appointed by Judge Thomas P. Griesa to conduct and preside over settlement negotiations between Argentina and the holdouts from speculative funds said that Thursday's meeting had failed and announced a new audience for Friday at 10:00 in the morning in New York.

• Friday, July 25th 2014 - 05:22 UTC

  “The muddled case of Argentine bonds”, as seen by New York Times

  

  The following piece was written by Floyd Norris, financial analyst from The New York Times and refers to the complicated process that has emerged from the ongoing battle between Argentina and the holdouts demanding full payment of sovereign bonds, plus accrued interests.