
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez plans to write actress Mia Farrow and retired tennis star Martina Navratilova to rebut their recent criticism and explain that the scandal engulfing her is a smear campaign, officials said Thursday.

The FAO Food Price Index continued to decline in January, averaging 182.7 points for the month, or 1.9 percent below its December 2014 level. Lower prices reflect strong production expectations as FAO also raised its 2014 forecast for world cereal production to a record high and noted that early indications for crops in 2015 are favorable.

This week the UK Electoral Commission has launched a dedicated overseas voter registration campaign. The campaign aims to encourage British citizens living overseas to register to vote ahead of the UK Parliamentary General Election, due to take place on Thursday 7 May 2015.

The oil markets are showing some life, having rallied 11% over a two-day period. But if a bigger rebound is not around the corner, it won’t just be oil companies that will be feeling the pain: their lenders will also face some steep losses if drillers can’t come up with the cash to cover debt payments.

The crew of the Sea Shepherd ship, Bob Barker, has confirmed that a set of buoys, attached to a beacon, were set out by the crew of the Thunder under the cover of night, indicating that the vessel is resuming illegal fishing activity.

The construction of China's second aircraft carrier appears to be imminent, reports the Global Times, a tabloid under the auspices of the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily.

President Cristina Fernandez expressed her satisfaction for the over 1,000 businessmen that attended the Argentinean-Chinese forum she presided in Beijing and praised the 'strategic partnership' with China. The president also rejected criticism voiced by the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) against her trip to China and the bilateral deals reached.

China's central bank has cut the level of funds banks must hold in reserve in an effort to boost growth in the world's second-largest economy. The reserve requirement ratio has been cut by 0.5 percentage points to 19.5%.

The Royal Navy's Atlantic Patrol Tasking HMS Dragon called at Tristan da Cunha, one of the most remote islands on the planet, on the latest stage of her Atlantic deployment. There is no land to the west for more than 2,000 miles, South Africa is 1,750 miles to the east and the nearest inhabited locality is another British Overseas Territory 1,510 miles away.

Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is expected to sign agreements with China to increase military co-operation, including construction of new warships for the Argentine Navy, during her current state visit to Beijing, according to media reports and Jane's Defense Weekly.