International

• Tuesday, June 3rd 2014 - 05:16 UTC

  Spanish king abdicates: time for a new generation 'to move to the front line'

  

  King Juan Carlos of Spain announced on Monday that he was abdicating in favor of Crown Prince Felipe, his 46-year-old son, explaining in an address to the nation that it was time for a new generation to “move to the front line” and face the country’s challenges.

• Monday, June 2nd 2014 - 08:21 UTC

  Moody's upgrades Uruguay's rating to Baa3, based on reduced 'vulnerabilities'

  

  Moody's Investors Service last Friday announced it had upgraded Uruguay's government bond rating to Baa2 from Baa3, and assigned a stable outlook to the Baa2 rating. The upgrade was driven by the strengthening of Uruguay's sovereign credit profile, as reflected by the convergence of fiscal and debt metric, an overall government debt profile that is currently associated with moderate credit risks, and the country's reduced vulnerabilities to regional and commodity shocks.

• Monday, June 2nd 2014 - 08:09 UTC

  Prince Harry will be visiting Brazil, and Chile for the first time later this month

  

  Prince Harry will be visiting Brazil and Chile this month in support of the UK's interests in the region and will reflect the strong relationship the two countries have with the UK. The visit will also allow Prince Harry to build on the links he began to forge in South America during his official visit to Brazil in March 2012.

• Monday, June 2nd 2014 - 08:04 UTC

  Gibraltar's Poggio to be succeeded by Jason Cruz in two years time

  

  The Gibraltar Government’s recently-appointed representative in Hong Kong, Jason Cruz, will succeed Albert Poggio as the Rock’s man in London in two years’ time, it was revealed in Parliament by Chief Minister Fabian Picardo who confirmed the decision as he answered Opposition questions about Mr Cruz’s salary and employment package.

• Monday, June 2nd 2014 - 07:48 UTC

  .Qatar vehemently denies corruption claims in the bid for hosting 2022 World Cup

  

  Qatari organizers of soccer's 2022 World Cup have “vehemently” denied accusations their successful bid was corrupt, saying its lawyers were looking into claims made by a British Sunday newspaper.

• Monday, June 2nd 2014 - 07:33 UTC

  Argentina confident US Supreme Court will take its litigation case with hedge funds

  

  President Cristina Fernandez administration has high hopes that the US Supreme Court will take its long running litigation case with holdout hedge funds that refused to accept sovereign debt rescheduling after Argentine defaulted in 2001.

• Sunday, June 1st 2014 - 13:54 UTC

  Obesity and overweight breaks scales in all countries: 30% of world population

  

  Almost 30% of the world’s population, 2.1 billion people, is considered obese or overweight, researchers said, while rates among children have increased by a whopping 47% in the last 33 years.

• Sunday, June 1st 2014 - 12:59 UTC

  Exxon, BP defy White House and extend partnership with Russia

  

  Several of the largest oil companies in the world are doubling down in Russia despite moves by the West to isolate Russia and its economy. ExxonMobil and BP separately signed agreements with Rosneft – Russia's state-owned oil company – to extend and deepen their relationships for energy exploration.

• Saturday, May 31st 2014 - 07:55 UTC

  The 'morality' of the Argentina/Paris Club deal is that it's 'a shared effort'

  

  Argentina's Economy minister Axel Kicillof gave details on Friday of the payment agreement reached with the Paris Club involving 9.7bn dollars of 2001 defaulted debt, which will open the doors to export credit agencies from the group's members and equally important signals a new attitude from the Cristina Fernandez administration.

• Saturday, May 31st 2014 - 07:15 UTC

  Germany and UK disagree on candidate for next EU Commission president

  

  German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she wants former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker to become the next EU Commission president. But some European leaders have voiced opposition to the move, including the British government who argue that Mr. Juncker is too much of an EU federalist and called for “a lengthy process to find consensus”.