International

• Tuesday, January 6th 2015 - 07:14 UTC

  Rockhopper awarded exploration licence with ENI, in Croatian Adriatic

  

  The British company Rockhopper Exploration, with interests in the Falkland Islands, has been awarded a licence to explore, together with Italy's Eni, a field for possible oil and gas exploitation in the central part of the Croatian Adriatic.

• Tuesday, January 6th 2015 - 06:45 UTC

  Falklands' waters chosen to experiment Taiwanese high-tech jigger

  

  An energy-efficient squid fishing-vessel sponsored by Taiwan's Council of Agriculture (COA) is heading to the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, north of the Falkland Islands, on its maiden voyage, to begin a six-month testing phase and examine the efficacy of its arrays of light emitting diodes (LED) for catching squid.

• Sunday, January 4th 2015 - 06:39 UTC

  Most types of cancer traced to 'bad luck' rather than risk factors, say scientists

  

  Most types of cancer can be put down to bad luck rather than risk factors such as smoking, a study has suggested. US teams were trying to explain why some tissues were millions of times more vulnerable to cancer than others.

• Saturday, January 3rd 2015 - 08:02 UTC

  Euro becomes the official currency in Lithuania: 19th member of the zone

  

  The Euro entered circulation in Lithuania on New Year, bringing the number of European Union (EU) Member States using the single European currency to 19. The European Central Bank (ECB) announced that Lithuania also joined its banking supervision under the Single Supervisory Mechanism.

• Saturday, January 3rd 2015 - 07:56 UTC

  Dragui remarks makes Euro fall to its lowest against the dollar since June 2010

  

  The euro fell Friday to a 4 ½-year low against the dollar after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi indicated the bank could soon back a government bond-buying program to deal with alarmingly low inflation across the 19-country Euro-zone.

• Saturday, January 3rd 2015 - 06:54 UTC

  Top French economist refused to accept the Legion d'Honneur

  

  France's influential economist Thomas Piketty, author of the bestseller “Capital in the 21st Century”, refused to accept the country's highest award, the Legion d'Honneur, arguing it is not the government's job to decide who is honorable and criticizing policies of the current Socialist administration.

• Friday, January 2nd 2015 - 05:33 UTC

  Pope calls for end to modern slavery and human trafficking in first 2015 Mass

  

  In his first mass of 2015 Pope Francis has urged people of all religions and cultures to unite to fight modern slavery and human trafficking, saying that everyone had a God-given right to be free. The service at St. Peter's Basilica marks the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace. This year's theme is “No Longer Slaves, but Brothers and Sisters.”

• Friday, January 2nd 2015 - 05:19 UTC

  Venezuela takes its seat at the UN Security Council replacing Argentina

  

  As of January first Venezuela is holding a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for two years (2015-2016). In such position, the government will have to take a stance on global issues, based on its “multi-center, pluri-polar world” approach.

• Wednesday, December 31st 2014 - 05:42 UTC

  Hedge fund targets 54bn dollars in Petrobras bonds governed by US law

  

  Petrobras, Brazil's state-run oil company, could be declared in technical default on some of its foreign debt if bondholders pursue efforts to force it to speed up its assessment of losses in a giant corruption scandal, according to reports from Reuters.

• Wednesday, December 31st 2014 - 05:36 UTC

  Paraguay with record 2014 beef exports, but faces Russian situation next year

  

  Paraguay twelve-month accumulated meat and meat products exports (mostly beef) reached 1.6bn dollars according to primary information said the head of the country's National quality and health animal services, Senacasa, Hugo Idoyaga, which represents a 20% increase in value over the 1.3 bn. dollars of 2013.