
Global food prices remained steady in August, the United Nations food agency said Thursday, but warned that the game is not over as it was only the beginning of the harvest season.

“You only have to fear God, and me a little bit, at least while you are staff that depends from me”, said Argentine President Cristina Fernández publicly voicing her discontent towards some of her cabinet members after a court order interrupted a series of public works in the Buenos Aires province.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos rejected a proposal on Thursday by FARC rebels for a bilateral ceasefire during talks next month aimed at bringing an end to half a century of war.

Managing Director Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showed strong support of the European Central Bank's new framework for intervention in the Euro zone debt crisis, deeming Thursday’s action 'an important step toward strengthening stability and growth.'

Asian shares looked set for their biggest daily gain in nearly five weeks on Friday after the European Central Bank outlined its bond-buying scheme to help calm the Euro zone's debt crisis, while firm US data fed speculation of a strong jobs report later in the day.

The Argentine blockade can’t stop the Falkland Islands and “if Argentina believes that these aggressions are going to change the mind and spirit of the Islanders, they are dead wrong, much on the contrary”, said Falklands’ lawmakers currently visiting Guatemala on a tour of Central America and Mexico.

After UK government cabinet reshuffle which confirmed Foreign Secretary William Hague and Secretary of Defence, Philip Hammond, the Falkland Islands and Latin America become the responsibility of Minister of State Hugo Swire MP until now Minister of State for the Northern Ireland Office. The new ministerial teams and their portfolios are as follows.

Argentina's trade surplus rose to 1.64 billion dollars in August, more than double the surplus in the same month a year ago achieving the twelve months target four months ahead, President Cristina Fernandez announced on Thursday.

The Argentine government signed the decree on Thursday formalising the decision for the state to begin to control a part of the mobile phone sector, a measure announced on Wednesday by Planning Minister Julio De Vido.

Europe's debt crisis is pushing the 17-country Euro-zone toward recession and dragging down the global economy, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report.