
“Special Master” Daniel Pollack, the mediator appointed by US judge Griesa to resolve the dispute between Argentina and the speculative funds' holdouts said the parts talked “face to face” for the first time and assured a new meeting will be confirmed during the day. If a deal is not reached Wednesday sunset Argentina could again fall into default.

President Cristina Fernández addressed fellow heads of state at the Mercosur summit in Caracas, where she thanked members of the bloc for their support over the ongoing fight with holdout investors in the New York courts and underlined that Argentina “has paid debt obligations religiously”.

Argentina will sent a negotiation team to New York on Monday for further talks with a US court-appointed mediator Daniel Pollack in its debt dispute with holdout investors, Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich said earlier, with just two days left to avert a default.

As Argentina approached the deadline for another default, second in twelve years, the governments of President Cristina Fernandez is trashing a U.S. judge rather than repay creditors, underlines an editorial column from The Wall Street Journal.

New York judge Thomas Griesa has confirmed that the Citigroup bank will on a one-off occasion be permitted to process payment on Argentine bonds held under Argentine law, which form part of the titles restructured following the default of 2001.

The New York Times called for the legalization of marijuana, in a bold editorial comparing the federal ban on cannabis to Prohibition. The prestigious publication said pot laws disproportionately impact young black men and that addiction and dependence are “relatively minor problems” -- especially when compared with alcohol and tobacco.

The Dutch government released a former Venezuelan general who was detained on US drug charges when he arrived in Aruba to serve as his country's consul on the Dutch Caribbean island, sending him home Sunday night and defusing a diplomatic fight with its neighbor.

President Cristina Fernandez left on Friday for Santa Cruz province, where she will stay for the weekend and analyze New York Argentine/holdouts case briefings. The Argentine delegation returned on Friday to Buenos Aires after two meetings with appointed mediator Daniel Pollack in New York, where no resolution was reached.

Argentina failed to reach a breakthrough with the U.S. court-appointed mediator in its battle with holdout creditors in New York on Friday in talks that lasted just an hour. The Argentine delegation is flying back to seek instructions from its government, mediator Daniel Pollack said, while the country's economy ministry underscored it would continue the dialogue with him over the next few days.

A judge in Aruba ruled Friday that the highest-ranking Venezuelan official ever arrested on a U.S. warrant will remain behind bars pending an extradition request on drug charges. Hugo Carvajal, a former head of Venezuelan military intelligence and close confidant of the late president Hugo Chavez, was arrested upon arriving at Aruba’s airport, officials said Thursday.