
Germany's Wintershall, the oil and gas arm of chemicals group BASF, said on Monday it was unperturbed by the enforced nationalisation of Argentine oil company YPF, having just been awarded another oil and gas licence there.

Taiwan will continue to cooperate with Latin America as long as the relation is fair, legal and effective, said re-elected president Ma Ying Jeou who also described that links with Beijing will continue to be: “no unification, no independence and no arms”.

US President Barack Obama has warned of hard days ahead at a Nato summit in Chicago dominated by the issue of withdrawal from Afghanistan. France's new President Francois Hollande has again said he will pull French troops out by the end of 2012, nearly two years ahead of schedule.

The seizure of YPF by Argentina can be expected to have a positive repercussion for Uruguay since the country has an enviable legal system and keeps to the rules of the game, said the new Spanish ambassador in Montevideo, Roberto Varela.

The Royal Navy expelled a Guardia Civil vessel from Gibraltar waters following an incursion by Spanish fishermen last week, in a clear sign that Britain will not tolerate any attempt to escalate the fishing row.

The Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward, will formally inaugurate and name Gibraltar’s new air terminal during his forthcoming visit to the Rock. The plan was revealed during a debate in the Gibraltar parliament after Opposition leader Peter Caruana suggested the British Royal should carry out the task.“It’s already on his agenda,” replied Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

British nuke submarine HMS Talent was dispatched this week end to the Falkland Islands “with Tomahawk warheads” on what could be a warning signal to Argentina, according to UK sensationalist tabloid The Sun.

A Vulcan bomber which launched air raids on Stanley Airport thirty years ago has flown over the peaceful countryside of central England to mark the dedication of a new Falklands Memorial to the 255 British servicemen and three women Islanders killed in the conflict.

The SS Great Britain that in the seventies was recovered from the Falkland Islands and is currently moored in Bristol has been “floated” in a sea of neon-green jelly as part of a cultural festival.

Spanish oil company Repsol has announced a first attempt to find oil in Cuban waters has failed. Repsol spokesman Kristian Rix said an exploratory well it drilled some 50km off Cuba was unsuccessful and would be abandoned.