Politics

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 22:51 UTC

  Repsol contracts Deutsche Bank as advisor for the YPF compensation deal

  

  Repsol appointed Deutsche Bank AG to advise it on the compensation pre-settlement it reached with Argentina regarding the seizure of 51% of YPF in April 2012. The arrangement was negotiated in Buenos Aires this week by ministers from Argentina and Spain, Repsol executives, and representatives from the Spanish company’s two largest shareholders, Mexico's Petroleos Mexicanos, Pemex and Barcelona-based CaixaBank SA.

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 21:03 UTC

  UK will insist Gibraltar be included in all EU aviation legislation

  

  The British Government will refuse to accept a return to the pre-2006 Cordoba Agreement practice of excluding the Gibraltar airport from EU aviation measures, Minister for Europe David Lidington told Parliament and pledged the inclusion of Gibraltar in all EU aviation legislation.

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 11:22 UTC

  Washington pledged support for Japan in dispute with China over islands

  

  The United States pledged support for ally Japan in a growing dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea and senior US administration officials accused Beijing of behavior that had unsettled its neighbors.

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 11:02 UTC

  Repsol board backs compensation deal offered by Argentina for seized YPF

  

  Spanish oil group Repsol's board Wednesday backed a draft multi-billion-dollar compensation deal over Argentina's 2012 seizure of the company's YPF subsidiary. The deal seeks to repair the financial hit taken by Repsol when Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez in April 2012 ordered the seizure of Repsol's 51-percent stake in YPF.

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 10:56 UTC

  Brazil Supreme Court postpones major ruling against banks until February

  

  Brazil's Supreme Court postponed until February a ruling on lawsuits by depositors that could cost the nation’s banks 65 billion dollars. Depositors claims relate to adjustments to accounts to compensate for hyperinflation and other drastic measures in early nineties mostly under president Fernando Collor de Melo.

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 10:50 UTC

  Sigh of relief in Europe: German Chancellor Merkel works out a 'grand coalition'

  

  Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) clinched a coalition deal early Wednesday that puts Germany on track to have a new government in place by Christmas.

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 10:36 UTC

  Spain assures it will not open UK government bags with official correspondence

  

  Spain has assured London that the incident in which UK government bags containing official correspondence and communications were opened by Spanish officials at the Gibraltar border, “will not see a repeat of these actions”, according to an official release from the Foreign Office on the update to Parliament on the incident.

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 10:31 UTC

  Maduro tells Central bank he expects 5% deflation in November because of the mandatory price cuts

  

  President Nicolás Maduro has sent clear messages to the Venezuelan central bank arguing that following the 'economic war' he declared on big business and hoarding with the mandatory cuts in prices, November should register “5% deflation and not inflation”.

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 10:26 UTC

  Rousseff reluctant to increase fuel prices fearing inflation and social unrest

  

  Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff is reluctant to allow the country's oil corporation Petrobras to increase the price of fuels this year, which would have an immediate impact on gasoline, transport and inflation, according to Folha de Sao Paulo.

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 10:04 UTC

  Falklands' referendum receives praise and is shown as an example for other Overseas Territories

  

  Praise for the Falkland Islands last March referendum and encouragement for other Overseas Territories to hold similar referendums on their future, was included in the final communiqué from the annual UK/British Overseas Territories joint Ministerial Council held this week in London.