International

• Wednesday, September 23rd 2015 - 08:43 UTC

  Tsipras takes office with a daunting agenda; 45% abstained on Sunday

  

  Alexis Tsipras took the oath of office for a second term as Greek prime minister, promising to revive the crippled economy while demanding debt relief from creditors as his “first big battle” following an unexpectedly clear election victory.

• Wednesday, September 23rd 2015 - 07:58 UTC

  Volkswagen admits 11 million cars worldwide equipped with “cheating software”

  

  The scandal that has undermined Germany's Volkswagen in the United States spread to its core market of Europe on Tuesday, after the company admitted that eleven million of its diesel cars worldwide were equipped with software that was used to cheat on emissions tests in the US.

• Wednesday, September 23rd 2015 - 07:31 UTC

  Obama and Biden greet Francis as he begins six-day visit; he will address US congress

  

  Pope Francis on Tuesday afternoon touched down at Joint Base Andrews to begin a historic six-day, three-city visit that will have political, diplomatic and spiritual ramifications. Breaking from the usual protocol for a state visit, President Obama and Vice President Biden chose to greet the papal plane before Francis departed in a hatchback Fiat to begin his tightly scheduled, carefully choreographed and highly anticipated visit.

• Tuesday, September 22nd 2015 - 14:38 UTC

  Trinidad approves extradition proceedings for Concacaf ex chief, Jack Warner

  

  The extradition proceedings against Jack Warner, a former vice-president of football's world governing body FIFA, are to go ahead after being approved by Trinidad's attorney general. Untied States wants to try Mr. Warner, 72, a Trinidadian national, on corruption charges. He is accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes.

• Tuesday, September 22nd 2015 - 11:57 UTC

  Ron Jans – the next National Coach of Holland?

  

  The Dutch National football team, 3rd in the 2014 World Cup and runners-up 4 years previously, are in grave danger of not qualifying for the 2016 European Champions Finals in France.
  Currently in 4th place in their qualifying group they need to finish no lower than 3rd just to ensure a play-off game and few people in Holland has any confidence this can be achieved.

• Tuesday, September 22nd 2015 - 08:07 UTC

  Pope will celebrate last mass in Cuba on Tuesday before flying to the US

  

  Pope Francis has celebrated mass in front of thousands of people in the eastern Cuban city of Holguin. During his homily, he paid tribute to the “efforts” and “sacrifices” the Roman Catholic Church has made in Cuba.

• Tuesday, September 22nd 2015 - 07:40 UTC

  Brazil/Israel spat over ambassador candidate, spearhead of settlements in the West Bank

  

  Israeli Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Hotovely defended the appointment of former settlements' department director, Dani Dayan, as the Jewish state's ambassador in Brazil, after it was rejected by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

• Tuesday, September 22nd 2015 - 06:37 UTC

  VW shares plunge 20% following emissions' scandal; fines could reach 18bn dollars

  

  Shares in German auto giant Volkswagen (VW) fell more than 20% in morning trading at the Frankfurt stock exchange on Monday in reaction to revelations that some of its diesel cars in the United States had been fitted with software that gave false emissions data.

• Monday, September 21st 2015 - 08:07 UTC

  Francis meets Fidel Castro and warns Cubans of the dangers of ideology

  

  Pope Francis met Cuba's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Sunday hours after warning Cubans to beware the dangers of ideology and the lure of selfishness as the island enters a new era of closer ties with the United States. Latin America's first pope and Castro, the region's last surviving revolutionary icon of the 20th century, discussed religion and world affairs at the home of the 89-year-old retired president for about 40 minutes.

• Monday, September 21st 2015 - 07:53 UTC

  Che's daughter refuses to attend Pope Francis mass at Revolution Square

  

  The Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara’s daughter, Aleida Guevara refused to go to a mass Pope Francis conducted on Sunday during his historic Cuban trip, saying it would be “hypocritical” of her to be present.