
Several European leaders among which the president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and the head of EU diplomacy Catherine Ashton are touring several Latinamerican countries with the purpose of strengthening relations with a region in full development but which lately has been increasingly focused on China.

The world's political and business elite gather in the snow-covered resort of Davos from Wednesday, aiming to instil some confidence in the global economy amid tentative signs of recovery.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board, currently holding its 132nd session in Geneva, has appointed Dr Carissa Etienne as the new Regional Director for WHO's Americas Region (WHO/AMRO), following her nomination by the Regional Committee for the Americas in September 2012.

Prince Harry, known as Captain Wales in the British military, has departed Afghanistan with his squadron after a successful tour as an Apache pilot. He operated as part of the Joint Aviation Group which provides helicopter support to the International Security Assistance Force and Afghan forces operating throughout Regional Command (South West) in Helmand province.

The United Kingdom Minister for the Overseas Territories Mark Simmonds welcomed the announcement of a set of additional measures to safeguard the sustainable-use Marine Protected Area (MPA) around the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands.

Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives have scheduled a vote on Wednesday on a nearly four-month extension of US borrowing capacity, but the bill does not specify a dollar amount.

Chilean President Sebastian Piñera pledged to work with “maximum urgency” on a bill that would grant constitutional recognition to the country's indigenous groups. Piñera also announced the creation of an indigenous peoples' council that fully represents “their history, traditions, culture” and via which “they could raise their strong and clear voice about their future.”

Argentine president Cristina Fernández tour of Southeast Asia came to an end on Monday with an embarrassing admission by the leader that she had “put her foot in it” in a press conference in Hanoi by making a statement which was factually incorrect regarding when Argentina recognized Vietnam as a state.

One of the leading New Zealand newspapers, The Dominion Post, has addressed the issue of the Falklands, the dispute with Argentina and the coming March referendum in an editorial “Islanders should decide their destiny”, which we kindly reproduce.

In Latin America and the Caribbean 94% of primary-school age children attended school, but the figure was down to 75% for secondary level of education. Likewise the average number of people on technical or university courses was three times higher in the richest quintile than in the poorest quintile, according to data collected by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).