International

• Saturday, July 4th 2015 - 06:57 UTC

  ITUC appeal to FC Barcelona voting members to end Qatar Airways sponsorship

  

  The ITUC has called on FC Barcelona “socios” (voting members) and fans to end the club’s Qatar Airways sponsorship, saying that the airline is the very worst sponsor for a club with a 100-year tradition of democracy and universality.

• Friday, July 3rd 2015 - 12:43 UTC

  JBS buys UK's Moy Park for $1.5bn from rival Mafrig Global Foods

  

  Brazil’s JBS, the world’s largest meat packer, has agreed to pay about $1.5 billion for Moy Park, the British unit of rival Mafrig Global Foods. JBS, which has undertaken a massive overseas expansion since 2007, will pay $1.19 billion in cash and will assume Moy Park’s debt totaling £200 million as part of the deal, Marfrig said in a statement.

• Friday, July 3rd 2015 - 07:38 UTC

  BP agrees to a $18.7bn settlement on claims from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill

  

  UK oil and gas giant BP said it has reached an $18.7 billion settlement of damages claims from the US government and five states after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill. The US Justice Department said it could be the largest settlement with a single entity in US history and the total value would top $20 billion.

• Friday, July 3rd 2015 - 06:55 UTC

  US asks Switzerland for extradition of seven FIFA officials on bribery charges

  

  The United States asked Switzerland on Thursday to extradite seven FIFA officials arrested in an investigation into a global bribery scandal at soccer's governing body, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) announced.

• Thursday, July 2nd 2015 - 06:13 UTC

  Mercosur summit will establish 'action plan' to speed discussions with Europe

  

  The Mercosur Council will establish an “action plan” at the next Mercosur presidential summit scheduled for 16/17 July in Brasilia, when the group's chair for the next six months will be handed to Paraguay by Brazil. Other issues on the agenda besides making Mercosur more flexible include addressing the 'special regimes' and the 'free trade zones' in the area, revealed Uruguay's foreign minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa.

• Thursday, July 2nd 2015 - 05:45 UTC

  FIFA chief Blatter convinced he's “clean” and one day will go to heaven

  

  Sepp Blatter, president of the world soccer governing body FIFA that is embroiled in corruption investigations, has told a German magazine he has a 'clean and clear' conscience and believes he will “go to heaven one day”.

• Thursday, July 2nd 2015 - 05:24 UTC

  Gibraltar hosts 35-country EU Small Business Association in Brussels office

  

  Gibraltar House in Brussels hosted a board meeting of the European Small Business Association (ESBA). The Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses was a founding member of ESBA, and currently participates in it as a Board member. ESBA has its headquarters in the city and represents over one million small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed people from 35 countries.

• Wednesday, July 1st 2015 - 20:27 UTC

  Lack of sanitation for 2.4 billion people undermining health improvements

  

  Lack of progress on sanitation threatens to undermine the child survival and health benefits from gains in access to safe drinking water, warn WHO and UNICEF in a report tracking access to drinking water and sanitation against the Millennium Development Goals.

• Wednesday, July 1st 2015 - 05:41 UTC

  Greece in IMF 'arrears'; it will default when it misses commercial payment

  

  Greece on Tuesday became the first developed country to join a roster that includes some of the world’s poorest and worst governed nations, including Iraq, Sudan, Somalia and Zimbabwe. Those are a few of the countries that have missed payments to the IMF as Greece did Tuesday, when it failed to make a loan payment of about 1.5 billion Euros, or $1.7 billion, to the fund.

• Wednesday, July 1st 2015 - 02:32 UTC

  Magna Carta and King's Writt global tour during last quarter of 2015

  

  A Foreign Office global tour of the Magna Carta and King's Writt celebrating the 800th anniversary of the unique document is scheduled to begin later this year, said Foreign minister Hugo Swire in his presentation to Parliament requesting the necessary indemnity funds for such exposure.