International

• Monday, January 11th 2016 - 13:36 UTC

  Boeing king of the skies: record 762 planes delivered last year

  

  Boeing looks to have cemented its position as the world's biggest aircraft manufacturer after delivering a record 762 planes last year. The figure exceeds Boeing's previous forecast that it would deliver between 755 and 760 aircraft.

• Monday, January 11th 2016 - 11:42 UTC

  PM Cameron hopeful of reaching a deal on EU referendum with Brussels in February

  

  Prime Minister David Cameron says he is “hopeful” of reaching a deal with European leaders in February that will allow him to hold the UK's EU referendum. The prime minister said the in-out vote “would follow” if agreement was reached on his reforms at next month's summit. He also said he would stay on as PM even if he ended up on the losing side.

• Saturday, January 9th 2016 - 11:24 UTC

  Spanish Socialists target “a grand coalition of progressive parties”, Portugal model

  

  Almost three weeks on from Spain’s election, which left a fragmented Parliament, Socialist Party leader Pedro Sánchez ruled out a coalition with the conservative People’s Party (PP) on Thursday and said he was seeking “a grand alliance of progressive forces” to lead the country.

• Saturday, January 9th 2016 - 07:34 UTC

  Platini drops out of FIFA presidential race; Infantino and Ebrahim Al Khalifa, leading candidates

  

  Suspended UEFA chief Michel Platini has withdrawn from the FIFA presidential race as he fights to clear his name following an eight-year ban. Platini was banned by FIFA's ethics judge in December over a “disloyal” $2 million payment he received from Sepp Blatter in 2011. It virtually ended his dreams of succeeding Blatter at the helm of FIFA in the Feb. 26 election.

• Friday, January 8th 2016 - 20:02 UTC

  FAO: major food commodities prices declined in 2015 for the fourth year running

  

  Prices of major food commodities declined for the fourth year in a row in 2015, averaging 19.1% below their previous-year's levels, as the dwindling global economy also triggered sharp price falls from metals to energy markets.

• Friday, January 8th 2016 - 11:06 UTC

  Argentina and Uruguay will bid to jointly host 2030 World Cup

  

  Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez and Argentine counterpart Mauricio Macri agreed on Thursday that their countries will present a joint bid to host the World Cup in 2030, a century after Uruguay was the site of the first tournament.

• Thursday, January 7th 2016 - 09:19 UTC

  Rockhopper faces challenge with offshore exploration project in Italy

  

  Rockhopper Exploration PLC on Wednesday was forced back to the drawing board to review its Ombrina Mare project offshore Italy after the country's parliament reintroduced restrictions on activity near the coast. The news could be a blow to the company, which is set to merge with Falkland Oil & Gas Ltd, after Falkland Oil shareholders approved the deal on Tuesday.

• Thursday, January 7th 2016 - 09:13 UTC

  UN declares 2016 the International Year of Pulses

  

  The United Nations 68th General Assembly declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses (IYP) and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) has been nominated to facilitate the implementation of the Year in collaboration with Governments, relevant organizations, non-governmental organizations and all other relevant stakeholders.

• Thursday, January 7th 2016 - 08:55 UTC

  UK Labour split turns into open crevasse following Corbyn's 'revenge reshuffle'

  

  British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn tried to assert some authority over the Labour Party this week but his “revenge reshuffle” appeared only to worsen divisions between moderates and his leftist inner circle. Four months into the hard left veteran's tenure following his surprise leadership election win, Corbyn sacked two frontbench moderates for alleged disloyalty and demoted his defence spokeswoman with one commentator calling the situation inside the party “nuts”.

• Thursday, January 7th 2016 - 08:46 UTC

  World bank slashes 2016 global economy growth forecast; points to disappointing “China and Brazil”

  

  World Bank slashed its growth forecast for the global economy in 2016, citing “disappointing” growth in major emerging market economies like China and Brazil. The bank has cut its previous June forecast for global economic expansion in 2016 by 0.4 percentage point to 2.9%, though that is still faster than 2015's sluggish 2.4%, which itself missed an earlier prediction.