Argentina has started legal proceedings against five companies drilling for oil and gas in the disputed Falkland Islands, raising tensions over the islands’ sovereignty in part because three of the companies are based in Britain. The spat is the latest between Britain and Argentina, who fought a short war over the Falklands — or Las Malvinas, as the islands are known in Argentina — in 1982 which Britain won. The war killed more than 600 Argentine and 255 British soldiers. The islands, which lie 300 miles off the Argentine coast and 8,000 miles from Britain, are claimed by both countries. Daniel Filmus, Argentina’s minister for the Falklands, announced the start of the lawsuit in London on Friday, saying a judge in Rio Grande, Argentina, had agreed to take on the case. The main companies involved in oil drilling in the Falklands are Premier Oil, Falkland Oil and Gas and Rockhopper, which […]