International

• Thursday, May 24th 2012 - 05:03 UTC

  Spain now tells Argentina “YPF is no more than a bump” in a long shared history

  

  Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo adopted on Wednesday a conciliatory tone towards Argentina for the first time after the YPF seizure by saying Argentina and Spain should hold “kindred nation” talks.

• Wednesday, May 23rd 2012 - 19:11 UTC

  Gibraltar and Spanish town agree on cross-border group to help sort out fishing dispute

  

  Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and Spanish town La Linea Mayor Gemma Araujo agreed the creation of a cross-border joint working group that will be examining all aspects of the fishing dispute with Spain.

• Wednesday, May 23rd 2012 - 18:50 UTC

  Following the Falklands’ ad incident Britain/Argentina at the opening hockey match in London

  

  Britain’s men’s hockey team will play their opening match of the London Olympics against Argentina at 1900 BST on 30 July, one of whose players caused a controversy this month with a video filmed in the disputed Falklands/Malvinas islands.

• Wednesday, May 23rd 2012 - 18:38 UTC

  Euro-zone tells members to prepare contingency plans for a possible Greek exit

  

  Euro zone officials have told members of the currency area to prepare contingency plans in case Greece quits the bloc, an eventuality which Germany's central bank said would be testing but “manageable”.

• Wednesday, May 23rd 2012 - 06:28 UTC

  Ambassador Castro embroiled in controversy over Falklands and “possible constitutional reform”

  

  Argentine ambassador in UK Alicia Castro rejects having mentioned during a conference in London the “possibility of a constitutional reform” to incorporate the results in the event of a sovereignty negotiation over the disputed Falklands/Malvinas Islands.

• Wednesday, May 23rd 2012 - 03:56 UTC

  Spain, on the edge of a financial cliff, cancels all development aid to Latin America

  

  The Spanish government announced this week it was cancelling all development aid to Latin American countries as a direct consequence of the financial strains the EU member is suffering, which is the worst in decades with record unemployment of 24%.

• Wednesday, May 23rd 2012 - 01:53 UTC

  Chile not interested in joining G20 at the expense of Argentina’s membership

  

  Chile is not interested in joining the G-20 of leading advanced and emerging economies if that means sacking Argentina, said President Sebastián Piñera administration’s spokesperson, Andres Chadwick.

• Wednesday, May 23rd 2012 - 01:44 UTC

  Fitch downgrades Japan’s credit rating fearful of political stalemate and snowballing debt

  

  Fitch cut Japan's sovereign credit status on Tuesday to the lowest level among global ratings agencies as a political stalemate dims the chance that the country can curb its snowballing debt.

• Wednesday, May 23rd 2012 - 01:24 UTC

  UN says half of global fisheries are exhausted and a further third depleted

  

  Marking the International Day for Biological Diversity, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon highlighted on Tuesday the fragile state of the world’s oceans, urging greater protection for marine biodiversity.

• Wednesday, May 23rd 2012 - 01:22 UTC

  Spain anticipated the economy will continue to slump in the second quarter

  

  Spain said it would meet its deficit targets this year despite a new slippage in its regions' accounts and a further contraction of the economy in the second quarter.