International

Thursday, December 20th 2012 - 20:39 UTC
Good news from the World Bank: China expected to bounce back next year

The World Bank has raised its growth forecast for China, saying stimulus measures and approval of infrastructure projects will help boost growth. It added that the pick-up in factory output and investment “suggested that China's economy was bottoming out”.
Thursday, December 20th 2012 - 20:16 UTC
ICE buys NYSE Euronext propelling the commodities player

Intercontinental-Exchange agreed an 8 billion dollars deal to buy New York Stock Exchange owner NYSE Euronext, propelling the commodities player into the big league of European derivatives and helping it to take on arch rival CME Group.
Thursday, December 20th 2012 - 19:38 UTC
UK will take “all necessary and proportionate” measures in support of Gibraltar

As tension with Spain escalates the British Government made clear that it would take “all necessary and proportionate” measures to maintain the integrity British sovereignty of Gibraltar and its waters. Europe Minister David Lidington set out the position in a letter to the Governor, Sir Adrian Johns, in response to the petition organised by the Defenders of Gibraltar.
Thursday, December 20th 2012 - 18:00 UTC
ARA Libertad: Ghana port authority lost 7.6m dollars; could demand NML Capital

Ghana’s Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) admits to having lost 7.6 million dollars as a result of the Argentine frigate ARA Libertad's occupation of its prime berth for a period of 76 days, reports Accra’s Graphic Online.
Thursday, December 20th 2012 - 06:02 UTC
Record killing of journalists doing their jobs in 2012, according to RSF

More journalists were killed doing their job in 2012 than in any year since monitoring started 17 years ago, with Syria and Somalia seeing a particularly heavy toll followed by Pakistan and Mexico, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Wednesday.
Wednesday, December 19th 2012 - 23:10 UTC
ARA Libertad is in the high seas; great reception in Mar del Plata on 9 January

The Argentine Navy flagship ARA Libertad set sail for Mar del Plata on Wednesday four days after a UN court ordered its release from the Tema port in Accra, Ghana, following a 77 day embargo (since 2 October) due to a claim by vulture fund NML Capital.
Wednesday, December 19th 2012 - 20:45 UTC
Chevron/YPF sign pilot accord to drill 100 wells in Vaca Muerta shale deposits

US Chevron and Argentina’s nationalized YPF signed a partnership to on Wednesday to invest 1 billion dollars to develop the shale-oil reserves of Vaca Muerta in the hydrocarbons rich Patagonian province of Neuquén.
Wednesday, December 19th 2012 - 20:25 UTC
UBS fined in US, UK and Switzerland for manipulating the Libor rate

Swiss banking giant UBS has agreed to pay 1.5bn dollars to US, UK and Swiss regulators for attempting to manipulate the Libor inter-bank lending rate. It becomes the second major bank to be fined over Libor after Barclays was ordered to pay 450m to UK and US authorities in the summer.
Wednesday, December 19th 2012 - 20:12 UTC
US court tells Sea Shepherd to stay away from Japan’s whaling fleet in Southern Ocean

US court has ordered conservation group Sea Shepherd to stay at least 500 yards away from Japan's whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit banned the group from “physically attacking any vessel engaged by the plaintiffs”.
Wednesday, December 19th 2012 - 19:43 UTC
President Obama re-election feat makes him TIME Person of the Year

US President Barack Obama was named TIME Person of the Year for 2012, citing his historic re-election last month as symbolic of the nation's changing demographics amid the backdrop of high unemployment and other challenges.