Prices for major food commodities in July hit their lowest average monthly level since September 2009 as sharp drops in the prices of dairy products and vegetable oils more than offset some increases for those of sugar and cereals. Meat prices, meanwhile, remained stable.
Many oil companies had trimmed their budgets heading into 2015 to deal with lower oil prices. But the rebound in April and May to $60 per barrel from the mid-$40s suggested that the severe drop was merely temporary.
Gibraltar’s Conservative MEP Ashley Fox is compiling a dossier of constituent complaints and experiences of crossing the border in and out of Gibraltar. Mr Fox will hand the dossier to the EU Commission and says it will show Spain is acting “as an aggressor and not a European partner”, according to a report from the Gibraltar Chronicle.
Spain has been accused of an “outrageous” and “unlawful” violation of British sovereignty after boats entered UK waters in Gibraltar on Sunday. Helicopters were also flown over a beach on the British territory as Spanish police chased criminals on the water, a move branded extremely dangerous by the Government of Gibraltar.
Scotland is to ban the growing of genetically modified crops, the country's rural affairs secretary has announced. Richard Lochhead said the Scottish government was not prepared to gamble with the future of the country's £14bn food and drink sector.
World Lion Day is to be remembered on Monday, August 10, and to celebrate this first campaign to protect the imposing animal many websites are dedicating amazing photos of the King of Beasts, as it is sometimes called.
Royal Dutch Shell is considering investing billions in Brazil, set to become a focal point after the planned acquisition of BG Group, even as it prepares to sell huge chunks of its business to pay for the $70bn deal.
Journalists have been accused of treason; a chief prosecutor fired; and we have witnessed the unedifying spectacle of government ministers scrambling to get out of the firing line after popular outrage. But the scandal rocking Germany's political establishment isn't about sleaze or corruption but rather whether a little-known website can publish documents already publicly discussed.
A growing number of countries are ratifying an international agreement to combat illegal fishing, fueling interest in how best to implement the instrument. Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is estimated to strip between $10 billion and $23 billion from the global economy, and their impacts undermine the way fish stocks are managed to make it a double concern around the world.
Chile’s inflation rate rose to the highest this year in July as the Peso approaches its weakest level in more than a decade. Prices climbed 0.4% in the month, the National Statistics Institute said on its website Friday. Annual inflation accelerated to 4.6% from 4.4% the month before, while the central bank target is between 2% and 4%.