International

• Saturday, February 6th 2016 - 07:00 UTC

  Argentina close to a full agreement with holdouts: US$ 6.5bn offer to end the litigation

  

  Argentina offered a $6.5 billion cash payment to creditors suing the country over defaulted bonds on Friday, seeking to end an exhausting 14-year legal battle, “the sovereign debt trial of the century”, that transformed the country into a financial markets pariah. Two out of six leading bondholders have already accepted the offer, the U.S. court-appointed mediator said, hailing the proposal by Argentina's new, business-friendly government as an “historic breakthrough”.

• Saturday, February 6th 2016 - 05:36 UTC

  UK will contest UN opinion on 'arbitrary detention' of Julian Assange

  

  The United Kingdom will formally contest the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Julian Assange is a victim of arbitrary detention. From Stockholm Swedish prosecution said the UN ruling had no formal impact into an ongoing rape investigation against the WikiLeak's founder.

• Saturday, February 6th 2016 - 05:33 UTC

  Africa's decisive 54 votes pledged to Sheikh Salam's bid for FIFA presidency

  

  The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is backing Sheikh Salman in the Bahraini royal’s bid to replace Sepp Blatter as FIFA president. Africa’s 54 members represent a large portion of the total of 209 FIFA voters who are eligible to cast a ballot. Not surprisingly, it’s believed that the candidate who gets the support of Africa will be a big favorite.

• Saturday, February 6th 2016 - 05:29 UTC

  US promotes major traceability plan for fishery products to combat IUU

  

  The United States National Oceanic and Atmosphereric Administration (NOAA) announced a proposal to implement a traceability plan for fishery products, aimed at combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and to prevent fraudulent trade.

• Friday, February 5th 2016 - 08:31 UTC

  World cereal stocks are set to end 2016 seasons at 642 million tons, higher than they began.

  

  Weather patterns associated with El Niño are sending mixed signals about the early prospects for cereal crops in 2016, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, according to FAO's Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, released on Thursday.

• Friday, February 5th 2016 - 07:54 UTC

  Swiss Syngenta accepts takeover proposal by China Chemical: US$ 43bn cash

  

  Government-owned agrochemical firm China National Chemical announced this week an all-cash proposal to buy Swiss rival Syngenta for $43 billion in a deal expected to improve China's food production.

• Friday, February 5th 2016 - 07:31 UTC

  TPP Agreement bad for democracy, rights, public services and health, says ITUC

  

  The ITUC has called the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) a major setback for employment and workers’ rights prospects, and signaled the determination of unions in TPP countries to oppose it. After five years of secret negotiations, twelve Asia/Pacific-Rim Ministers signed the agreement today in Auckland, New Zealand, amid strong criticism from trade unions and other civil society organisations.

• Thursday, February 4th 2016 - 07:45 UTC

  Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal signed by 12 member nations in New Zealand

  

  The Trans Pacific Partnership, one of the biggest multinational trade deals ever, has been signed by ministers from its 12 member nations in New Zealand. The ceremony in Auckland brings the huge trade pact, which has been five years in the making, another step towards to becoming a reality. But the TPP continues to face opposition.

• Thursday, February 4th 2016 - 07:29 UTC

  “Attacks on Islam are attacks on all religions” says Obama at Maryland mosque

  

  President Barack Obama visited an American mosque on Wednesday and declared that attacks on Islam were an attack on all religions, in an effort to counter rhetoric from Donald Trump and other Republican presidential candidates that has alienated Muslims.

• Wednesday, February 3rd 2016 - 07:23 UTC

  Argentina agrees to pay Italian bond holders including “a reasonable interest”

  

  Argentina announced Tuesday that it reached a $900 million preliminary accord to settle its pending debt with 50,000 Italian holders of defaulted Argentine government bonds. Finance minister Alfonso Prat-Gay said that the agreement with Italian bondholders includes the Argentine government's acknowledgement of the debt “and reasonable interest”.