International

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 11:02 UTC

  Repsol board backs compensation deal offered by Argentina for seized YPF

  

  Spanish oil group Repsol's board Wednesday backed a draft multi-billion-dollar compensation deal over Argentina's 2012 seizure of the company's YPF subsidiary. The deal seeks to repair the financial hit taken by Repsol when Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez in April 2012 ordered the seizure of Repsol's 51-percent stake in YPF.

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 10:50 UTC

  Sigh of relief in Europe: German Chancellor Merkel works out a 'grand coalition'

  

  Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) clinched a coalition deal early Wednesday that puts Germany on track to have a new government in place by Christmas.

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 10:36 UTC

  Spain assures it will not open UK government bags with official correspondence

  

  Spain has assured London that the incident in which UK government bags containing official correspondence and communications were opened by Spanish officials at the Gibraltar border, “will not see a repeat of these actions”, according to an official release from the Foreign Office on the update to Parliament on the incident.

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 10:04 UTC

  Falklands' referendum receives praise and is shown as an example for other Overseas Territories

  

  Praise for the Falkland Islands last March referendum and encouragement for other Overseas Territories to hold similar referendums on their future, was included in the final communiqué from the annual UK/British Overseas Territories joint Ministerial Council held this week in London.

• Wednesday, November 27th 2013 - 16:10 UTC

  Foreign Office complains to Spain search of a UK diplomatic bag at the Gibraltar border

  

  The British Government said Spain’s decision to search a UK diplomatic bag at the border with Gibraltar was “a serious infringement” of international diplomatic protocol. In a statement, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office said it had called on the Spanish Government to look into the incident and ensure it was not repeated.

• Wednesday, November 27th 2013 - 10:12 UTC

  UK 'unreserved' support for Gibraltar's international sports: first football, now rugby

  

  Britain’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Maria Miller, has pledged her ‘unreserved’ support Gibraltar’s international sporting ambitions. The backing for Gibraltar comes as the Gibraltar Rugby Football Union (GRFU) goes through the process of FIRA/AER (European Rugby Federation) membership after being previously rejected and blocked by Spain last July despite meeting the necessary criteria.

• Wednesday, November 27th 2013 - 07:25 UTC

  US defies China's 'air defense identification zone' over disputed islands

  

  US has flown two B-52 bombers over disputed islands in the East China Sea in defiance of new Chinese air defense rules, officials say. China set up its “air defense identification zone” on Saturday insisting that aircraft obey its rules or face “emergency defensive measures”.

• Wednesday, November 27th 2013 - 07:21 UTC

  Independent Scotland would keep the pound, the Queen and oil and gas reserves

  

  Scottish leader Alex Salmond unveiled on Tuesday what he called a “mission statement” for the country’s future: a 649-page paper detailing many of the terms for an independent Scotland. The country’s first minister released his Scottish National Party’s so-called white paper ahead of a referendum on independence from the United Kingdom set for next September.

• Wednesday, November 27th 2013 - 07:07 UTC

  Premier Oil with operations in the Falklands launches bond to diversify its debt away from banks

  

  FTSE 250-listed energy explorer Premier Oil with strong interests in the Falkland Islands oil industry, launched this week a new bond, as it looks to diversify its debt away from banks.

• Wednesday, November 27th 2013 - 06:35 UTC

  YPF shares and Buenos Aires market soar to record highs on announcement of agreement with Repsol

  

  Argentina's Merval benchmark stock index climbed 3% on Tuesday to finish at a record high of 5,696.2 points, following a strong hike in YPF and Edenor stocks. YPF shares soared 11%, while electricity distributor Edenor saw prices close 19% up at the end of trading.