International

• Thursday, August 4th 2016 - 22:59 UTC

  FAO Price Index reports modest decline in July as grains and vegetable oils drop

  

  The international prices for major food commodities saw a modest decline in July, following five consecutive months of increases. The FAO Food Pice Index (FPI) averaged 161.9 points in July 2016, slipping 0.8 percent (1.3 points) below its level in June and 1.4 percent below its level of July 2015.

• Thursday, August 4th 2016 - 22:09 UTC

  RMS St Helena schedule extended another year until airport is ready for commercial flights

  

  RMS St. Helena, one of the last Royal Mail Ships in the world is to continue serving her remote South Atlantic island namesake until 1 July 2017, the St Helena Government has announced. The RMS passenger and freight service will continue to operate between Cape Town, St Helena and Ascension Island with the extended schedule confirmed by the island's director of tourism.

• Wednesday, August 3rd 2016 - 07:12 UTC

  US 'Dream team' rented cruise liner “Silver Cloud” as their Olympic Village

  

  Multi-millionaire members of the US Olympic basketball team have rented a massive luxury cruise ship to call their home while they compete at the Rio Olympics. Super rich members of the 'Dream Team' are shirking the nightmare of the Olympic Village, still undergoing finishing touches in some areas and likely to remain “under construction” throughout the games in others. Members of the women's team are also reported to be calling the cruise ship home.

• Wednesday, August 3rd 2016 - 06:58 UTC

  Rio Games opening tailored to the current economic conditions in Brazil

  

  Rio de Janeiro Olympics opening ceremony on Friday will break with the recent tradition of large-scale and expensive shows, featuring a low-emissions cauldron and an “analogue” experience, executive producer Marco Balich said.

• Tuesday, August 2nd 2016 - 06:07 UTC

  China's leading role in Argentina reviewed and confirmed by Macri

  

  China’s role in Argentina’s foreign relations will be more balanced than during the Kirchner administrations, with a larger role played instead by the United States and European countries, the country’s ambassador to Beijing Diego Guelar said, claiming Chinese investment will have to be more competitive.

• Monday, August 1st 2016 - 13:27 UTC

  Ecclestone's mother-in-law freed by Brazilian special anti-kidnapping division

  

  Formula One tycoon Bernie Ecclestone's mother-in-law has been freed without ransom after being kidnapped in Brazil last week, say police. Aparecida Schunk , 67, the mother of Ecclestone's Brazilian wife Fabiana Flosi, was snatched last Saturday near her home in Sao Paulo.

• Saturday, July 30th 2016 - 08:46 UTC

  Falklands' museum heritage adds 19th century port of Stanley painting

  

  Falkland Islands Museum Director Leona Roberts will be carrying a unique and valuable artistic insight into Falklands history when she returns to Stanley.

• Saturday, July 30th 2016 - 08:38 UTC

  Olympics equestrian sports have to live with glanders scare in Rio

  

  Brazil's summer Olympics, scheduled to be opened in less than a week, have added another challenge to the long list of complaints and disease-scares, such as Zika, but this time the culprits are not mosquitoes but an alleged outbreak of glanders disease, a deadly equine respiratory condition. And this has surfaced when the world's top riders and their mounts prepare to compete in Rio de Janeiro events.

• Saturday, July 30th 2016 - 07:47 UTC

  Olympics chief praises Rio and anticipates a “fantastic” Games

  

  The head of the International Olympic Committee played down problems with unfinished accommodation in Rio de Janeiro that have prompted some teams to abandon the Olympic village, saying he expected Brazil to host a “fantastic” games.

• Friday, July 29th 2016 - 13:25 UTC

  Uruguay will not fund Turkey ticket for vanished ex Guantanamo inmate who surfaced in Venezuela

  

  The Uruguayan government announced on Thursday it will not fund the return trip or to Turkey or any third country, of former Guantanamo prisoner, Jihad Ahmad Dhiab who went missing for over a month and this week turned up at the Uruguayan consulate in Caracas, Venezuela.