International

• Monday, October 7th 2013 - 17:45 UTC

  FAO food price index in September down 5.4% since the beginning of the year

  

  The FAO Food Price Index averaged 199.1 points in September 2013, 2.3 points (1%) below its August value and down 11 points (or 5.4%) since the beginning of the year. The decline in September marked the fifth consecutive decrease in the value of the index and was driven by a sharp fall in the international prices of cereals, whereas prices of all other components of the index, namely dairy, oils, meat and sugar, rose slightly.

• Monday, October 7th 2013 - 15:42 UTC

  Breathing space for Argentina’s bonds case: litigation continues at US appeals court level

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court left intact a ruling that may force Argentina to make payments on defaulted government bonds, rejecting that country’s appeal in a clash that has roiled its financial markets. The justices, without comment, on Monday let stand a 2012 U.S. appeals court decision that bars Argentina from making payments on 24 billion in restructured debt unless it also pays owners of the earlier repudiated bonds.

• Monday, October 7th 2013 - 14:16 UTC

  World 2013/14 cereal production forecasted to surpass 2012 level by 8%, says FAO

  

  The outlook for global cereal supply in the 2013/14 marketing season remains generally favorable despite downward adjustments to forecasts for world cereal production and closing stocks, according to the latest issue of FAO quarterly Crop Prospects and Food Situation report.Despite this downward adjustment, world cereal production would still surpass the 2012 level by nearly 8%.

• Monday, October 7th 2013 - 13:42 UTC

  Claims Canada spied on Brazil’s Mining and Energy Ministry

  

  Canada spied on communications at Brazil's Mining and Energy Ministry, according to Canadian intelligence documents revealed Sunday by Globo television. The documents were leaked by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

• Friday, October 4th 2013 - 17:05 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez accuses “part of US judiciary” of wanting Argentina to default

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has accused part of the United States judiciary of wishing to take Argentina “to default”, comparing Argentina’s situation with that which currently faces US counterpart Barack Obama.

• Friday, October 4th 2013 - 07:07 UTC

  UK and OAS analyze drug situation in the Americas and different approaches

  

  The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, met on Thursday with the Minister of State for Crime Prevention of the United Kingdom, Jeremy Browne, with whom he analyzed the drug situation in the region.

• Friday, October 4th 2013 - 07:05 UTC

  UK offers Paraguay cooperation in transport and infrastructure at embassy ceremony

  

  The UK is back in full force in Latinamerica, and particularly in Paraguay, the fastest growing economy in the region, said Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire during the inauguration of the British embassy in Asunción, which had been shut down back in 2005.

• Friday, October 4th 2013 - 07:02 UTC

  IMF warns US debt ceiling controversy is a far worse threat to global economy

  

  IMF managing director Christine Lagarde says failure to raise the US debt ceiling would be a far worse threat to the global economy than the current shutdown. The shutdown is due to a budget standoff between President Barack Obama and Congress. But a worse problem looms: the US will run out of money if there is no agreement to raise the borrowing limit.

• Friday, October 4th 2013 - 06:53 UTC

  Argentina credit rating conditioned by poor credibility and unreliable stats, says Moody’s

  

  An upgrade of Argentina’s credit rating depends on the government taking measures to boost data credibility while compensating investors holding defaulted debt and companies for expropriated assets, said Gabriel Torres, Argentina’s sovereign credit analyst at Moody’s Investors Service.

• Friday, October 4th 2013 - 06:45 UTC

  European Union considering punitive duties on Argentine bio-diesel

  

  Argentine bio-diesel producers will fight European Union proposals to impose punitive duties on imports from the country, saying the move would remove its biggest export market and raise prices in Europe.