International

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 22:29 UTC

  Costa cruise announces 7 new safety measures including mandatory safety drills

  

  Costa Cruises announced the introduction of seven new safety measures over the weekend during a ceremony celebrating the delivery of the company's new 665 million dollars flagship.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 17:46 UTC

  Argentine Olympic Committee releases watered down statement on Malvinas spot

  

  The Argentine Olympic Committee has responded for the first time to an advertisement on state-run TV that links a dispute with Britain about the Falklands/Malvinas Islands to the London Games.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 17:17 UTC

  Brazil’s Rousseff sees in Hollande an ally to counter Merkel’s austerity policies

  

  Dilma Rousseff is interested in having French elected-president Francois Holland make an official visit to Brasilia to talk about the current world situation since the Brazilian leader believes they both share positions regarding the global crisis and austerity policies.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 06:19 UTC

  Spain expected to announce strong support for the ailing banking system

  

  Spain's prime minister says the government will likely present this week new measures to help banks, a key source of worry over whether the country might need a financial bailout.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 02:39 UTC

  Olympic/Malvinas ad: “creativity can’t be censored, it must be applauded”, says CFK

  

  President Cristina Fernández said in relation to the controversial Olympic/Malvinas advert that “creativity can’t be censored”, on the contrary it should be “applauded” because it reflects the feelings of the Argentines. The head of state also rejected lifting the spot as demanded by Britain and the Y&R agency in New York.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 02:17 UTC

  Portsmouth and Sheffield hold services to mark the 30th anniversary of the Falklands conflict

  

  Hundreds of veterans and members of the public gathered on Sunday in Portsmouth and Sheffield to mark the 30 years since the Falkland Islands conflict.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2012 - 01:58 UTC

  Respsol warns its peers with legal actions if they team up with nationalized YPF

  

  Spain-based energy group Repsol has sent letters to oil majors including Exxon-Mobil, Chevron and Conoco-Phillips warning it would sue them if they try to invest in YPF or its assets, reports the British newspaper The Financial Times.

• Monday, May 7th 2012 - 19:19 UTC

  Medvedev-Putin, now becomes Putin-Medvedev for the next six years

  

  Vladimir Putin, who was officially sworn in for a third term as president of Russia on Monday after four years of serving as the country’s prime minister, has nominated his predecessor Dmitry Medvedev to replace him as prime minister.

• Monday, May 7th 2012 - 17:33 UTC

  Argentina takes official control of YPF; Rajoy asks: who can trust that country?

  

  The Argentine decision to seize control of 51% of YPF oil and gas giant came into effect on Monday as a decree was published on the Official Gazette. From Spain a new barrage of criticisms in support of Repsol and condemning Argentina started the week.

• Monday, May 7th 2012 - 17:28 UTC

  EU ready to cut trade benefits to Argentina because of YPF; warns the region on growing protectionism

  

  European Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht expressed concern Monday over what he called a “growing tendency towards protectionism across Latin America” and warned Europe is preparing retaliation measures against Argentina after YPF expropriation