International

• Friday, May 18th 2012 - 22:59 UTC

  Olympic flame begins Saturday from Land’s end the 8.000 mile relay to London

  

  The Olympic flame landed in the UK ready for the London 2012 torch relay after being flown from Athens, Greece. David Beckham used it to light a cauldron after the plane, also carrying Princess Anne and London Games organizers chair Lord Coe, arrived at a Cornish air base.

• Friday, May 18th 2012 - 22:54 UTC

  EU ambassador in Argentina suggests “negotiated agreement” for the Repsol/YPF dispute

  

  The European Ambassador to Argentina, Spanish native Alfonso Díez Torres, stressed on Friday that the solution for the YPF seizure conflict would be “a negotiated agreement” between Argentina and Repsol.

• Friday, May 18th 2012 - 22:39 UTC

  Repsol cancels contract to supply Argentina with LNG; YPF ensures supply

  

  Spain’s Repsol has cancelled its contract to supply Argentina with liquefied natural gas (LNG), just weeks after the country seized control of the company's majority stake in YPF, a document obtained by international news agency Reuters showed.

• Friday, May 18th 2012 - 22:35 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez insisted in Angola on the South Atlantic as “an area of peace”

  

  President Cristina Fernández highlighted the importance of keeping the South Atlantic region as ”an area of peace, free of militarization,” during her speech before the National Assembly of Angola on Friday.

• Friday, May 18th 2012 - 18:03 UTC

  CFK highlights “magnificent opportunity” for Angola/Argentina trade

  

  President Cristina Fernández highlighted the “magnificent opportunity” Argentina and Angola had in coming together on future business transactions, particularly in the face of the global financial crisis, while addressing a meeting with businessmen in Angloa where she is on a three day official visit.

• Friday, May 18th 2012 - 17:57 UTC

  EC and ECB making contingency plans for possible Greek exit from the Euro

  

  European Commission and European Central Bank are making contingency plans for a possible Greek exit from the euro, an EU commissioner says.

• Friday, May 18th 2012 - 16:41 UTC

  UN independent experts call on EU to adopt a global financial transaction tax

  

  A group of United Nations independent experts called on the European Union (EU) to take the lead in promoting the adoption of a global financial transaction tax that would offset the costs of the current economic crisis and protect basic human rights.

• Friday, May 18th 2012 - 16:36 UTC

  “Let’s face it: the old (economic) model is broken: we need to create a new one”

  

  United Nations senior officials stressed the importance of establishing a new paradigm for growth that ensures social inclusiveness, job opportunities for all, and more accountability from the financial sector to tackle the ongoing global economic crisis.

• Friday, May 18th 2012 - 09:31 UTC

  Moody’s cuts credit ratings of 16 Spanish banks and four regions

  

  Ratings agency Moody's has cut the credit ratings of 16 Spanish banks, a further blow to a country that is struggling to deal with the bad debts of its banking sector. It also cut the debt rating on Santander UK, a subsidiary of the Spanish banking giant.

• Friday, May 18th 2012 - 09:15 UTC

  UN Tourism office forecasts record over a billion international tourist arrivals

  

  More than one billion tourists will take a trip this year crossing an international boundary, a threshold never before reached, UN officials told a meeting tourism ministers gathering in Mexico this week.