
Argentina ratified Tuesday its ‘imprescriptible” sovereignty rights over the Malvinas, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands and adjoining maritime spaces and blasted the UK for not abiding by UN resolutions calling for bilateral talks.

Denmark has assumed the presidency of the European Union as the 27-member bloc continues efforts to tackle the crisis ravaging the continent. Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt has said Denmark aspires to strengthen the EU in a difficult time.

The UK BAE Systems has signed a deal with the Brazilian Navy to supply it with three patrol vessels. The contract is worth £133m.

Spain’s economy is forecasted to contract in the first quarter of 2012 after shrinking in the previous six months admitted Economy Minister Luis de Guindos confirming analysts’ expectations that the Euro zone fourth largest economy is already in recession.

China has seen an improvement in a key measure of manufacturing, boosting optimism that steady economic growth will continue into 2012. The purchasing managers' index rose to 50.3 in December from 49 in November, the statistical office said. A reading of more than 50 shows expansion.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy have said they will meet next week to discuss the Euro zone debt crisis. Their first meeting of 2012 comes after all EU countries except the UK agreed to work together on a new treaty to stabilise the Euro zone.

Saudi Arabia's largest dairy company announced it was buying Argentine farm operator Fondomonte for 83 million dollars to secure access to a supply of animal feed. The acquisition will give Riyadh-based Almarai Co. control of roughly 30,000 acres of farmland just ahead of tough new limits to be imposed by Argentina's government on foreign ownership of productive land.

Australia’s Malcolm Fraser Government considered taking British refugees from the Falkland Islands at the height of the South Atlantic conflict in 1982, reports the Sydney press based on the release of National Archives.

US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) this week granted Aker BioMarine’s request for re-examination of US patent number 8,030,348 assigned to competitor Neptune Technologies and Bioressources. The re-examination was approved for all 21 claims of the patent and in consideration of multiple references presented by Aker BioMarine.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged in a grave New Year's message to find ways to pull the economy out of stagnation in the four months left before a presidential election and vowed no further public spending cuts.