International

• Saturday, September 24th 2016 - 20:04 UTC

  August FAO Food Price Index at its highest since May 2015; all commodities up except for cereals

  

  The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 165.6 points in August 2016, up 3 points (1.9%) from July and almost 7% above the corresponding period last year. The August value of the Index is the highest since May 2015. Except for cereals, prices of all other commodities used in the calculation of the FFPI rose in August, led by dairy, oils and sugar.

• Saturday, September 24th 2016 - 10:24 UTC

  Pinochet ordered the 1976 assassination of opposition leader Letelier, says CIA

  

  The United States on Friday gave Chilean President Michelle Bachelet declassified CIA documents confirming that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet personally ordered the 1976 assassination of opposition leader Orlando Letelier. US Deputy Secretary of State Heather Higginbottom presented the documents to Bachelet during a ceremony on the site of the killing in the US capital, two days after the 40th anniversary of the brazen attack.

• Thursday, September 22nd 2016 - 22:18 UTC

  FAO forecasts higher harvest prospects for maize, wheat and rice

  

  Staple food prices rose in August even as grain prices fell and the outlook for global cereal production improved. The FAO Food Price Index averaged 165.6 points in August, up 1.9% from July and almost 7% from a year earlier. The monthly jump was mostly driven by cheese and palm oil quotations, while those for wheat, maize and rice all fell.

• Thursday, September 22nd 2016 - 22:08 UTC

  BIS warns Chinese banking sector stress gauge three times above danger level

  

  Risks of a Chinese banking crisis are mounting, according to a warning indicator from the banking industry's global watchdog. A key gauge of stress in the banking sector is now more than three times above the danger level, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said in its latest quarterly review.

• Thursday, September 22nd 2016 - 17:00 UTC

  St Helena airport “too dangerous to use” opens prospect of £285m compensation claim

  

  Britain faces the prospect of compensation claims over a disastrous overseas aid project to build an airport on the remote island of St Helena, according to reports in the UK media. The £285million flop became a symbol of Britain’s aid waste this year after experts warned it might never open because of severe problems with wind conditions on the British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean.

• Thursday, September 22nd 2016 - 15:56 UTC

  US National Guard sent to Charlotte to quell violent rioting after shooting of black man

  

  Violence flared in the southern US city of Charlotte, North Carolina, in a second night of unrest ignited by the fatal police shooting of a black man. Charlotte officials appealed for calm on Thursday, hours after violent riots stemming from a controversial police shooting of a black man injured several police officers and civilians and resulted in 44 arrests.

• Thursday, September 22nd 2016 - 15:40 UTC

  Rousseff back on the political trail in defence of Lula da Silva

  

  Former President Dilma Rousseff called the prosecution of her predecessor on corruption charges another attack on Brazil's democracy, speaking just weeks after the Senate removed her from office in an impeachment trial.

• Thursday, September 22nd 2016 - 15:38 UTC

  Ex finance minister of Lula and Rousseff arrested in connection to Petrobras corruption

  

  Brazilian police on Thursday arrested Guido Mantega, a former finance minister under presidents Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, as part of the investigation into the vast Petrobras corruption scheme, media reported.However Brazilian Judge Sergio Moro later in the day revoked the temporary detention order citing Mantega's cooperation with a search of his home and his wife's surgery in a Sao Paulo hospital.

• Thursday, September 22nd 2016 - 10:34 UTC

  Oxford leads world university rankings; 15 out of 20 top list are from US

  

  Oxford University has come top of The Times Higher Education world university rankings - a first for a UK university. Oxford knocks California Institute of Technology, the top performer for the past five years, into second place. But there are warnings the vote to leave the European Union could destabilize UK higher education and hinder work with academics abroad.

• Thursday, September 22nd 2016 - 10:24 UTC

  Latin American Jewish congress express ''enthusiastic support” for president Macri

  

  The Latin-American Jewish Congress expressed its most “enthusiast support” to Argentine president Mauricio Macri and his administration but also pointed out that in his Tuesday speech before the UN General Assembly there was no specific request for Iran to collaborate with the investigation of the 1994 terrorist attack against AMIA in Buenos Aires.