International

• Wednesday, April 25th 2012 - 06:51 UTC

  Holland enters in Euro risk zone as political parties clash over further austerity

  

  Holland one of the few show cases of Europe with all economic indicators the envy of its fellow EU members has stalled in a political controversy while at the other end Greece sees no end to suffering in its fifth year of recession.

• Wednesday, April 25th 2012 - 04:47 UTC

  Repsol says it has invested over 20 billion dollars since taking over YPF in 1999

  

  Spain’s energy corporation Repsol describes as ‘false’ Argentine government allegations that its affiliate YPF “had not invested sufficiently” in its hydrocarbons interests in Argentina.

• Wednesday, April 25th 2012 - 04:41 UTC

  Vietnam displaces Australia as world’s largest wood chip exporter

  

  Wood chip trade flows in the Pacific Rim have changed substantially the past five years. Vietnam, Chile, Thailand and Uruguay have all been increasing their shipments of chips, while Australia and South Africa have been losing their market share as fibre suppliers to the pulp mills in Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea.

• Wednesday, April 25th 2012 - 02:39 UTC

  Vodafone Group takes over Cable & Wireless for £ 1.04bn cash

  

  Vodafone Group Plc agreed to acquire Cable & Wireless Worldwide Plc for 1.04 billion pounds (1.7 billion dollars) in cash, adding a UK fixed-line network to its mobile-phone system and gaining business customers.

• Tuesday, April 24th 2012 - 21:25 UTC

  Strong sterling and UK prices have vacation Britons fleeing to the continent

  

  Soaring sterling rates are giving Britons and Gibraltarians as much as 14% more cash for their summer 2012 trips to Euro Europe compared with last year, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Tuesday, April 24th 2012 - 21:20 UTC

  Timerman caught by EU Commissioner De Gucht in a major diplomatic blunder

  

  Argentine Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman is in the middle of a major diplomatic blunder through a baffling series of statements regarding a letter sent by the EU to his office last week, according to a report published in the Buenos Aires Herald.

• Tuesday, April 24th 2012 - 20:58 UTC

  EU preparing to lodge a complaint at WTO against Argentina import restrictions

  

  The European Union is planning to lodge a complaint at the World Trade Organization over Argentina's import restrictions and is seeking other trading partners to back its presentation, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday according to news agencies.

• Tuesday, April 24th 2012 - 19:19 UTC

  Argentina formalizes proposal for air link with Falklands and resumption of fisheries’ cooperation

  

  Argentina made a formal proposal to the UK for the establishment of direct flights from Argentina to the Falklands and to resume cooperation in the conservation of fishery resources in the South Atlantic, indicates a release posted on Tuesday in the Argentine Foreign Ministry site.

• Tuesday, April 24th 2012 - 06:25 UTC

  Iceland forgives ex PM for 2008 financial crisis and meltdown of the economy

  

  Former Icelandic PM Geir Haarde has been found not guilty of negligence over the 2008 financial crisis that saw the island's economy go into meltdown. A special court in Reykjavik said Mr Haarde would face no punishment and his legal expenses would be paid for.

• Tuesday, April 24th 2012 - 06:20 UTC

  S&P downgrades Repsol’s rating; sees no compensation payment in near-term

  

  Rating Agency S&P announced on Thursday it was downgrading Spain-based energy company Repsol-YPF after Argentina’s government announced the expropriation of 51% of its shares. The rating was lowered from BBB to BBB (minus), the agency said in a statement.