International

• Tuesday, August 19th 2014 - 08:20 UTC

  South Korea was a feast, but more important China warmed up to Pope Francis

  

  Pope Francis ended his first official visit to Asia on Monday with a fresh overture to China and a call for reconciliation between South Korea and its totalitarian neighbor, North Korea. As the pope flew across Chinese airspace on his return flight to Rome, he sent a telegram — his second during the trip — to President Xi Jinping, expressing his “divine blessings” for the powerful leader and the Chinese people.

• Tuesday, August 19th 2014 - 08:05 UTC

  Falklands' war statements from Chilean minister praised by Argentine peer

  

  Argentine Defense minister Agustín Rossi praised on Monday his Chilean peer statements relative to Chile's role and attitude during the Falklands war when Britain sent a task force to expulse the Argentine military invasion in 1982.

• Monday, August 18th 2014 - 07:16 UTC

  Mixed data from China, and doubts about the 7.5% growth target for 2014

  

  China's latest industrial production and retail sales figures are higher in July from one year ago but the pace of expansion has slowed. Industrial production, a measures of output at factories, workshops and mines jumped 9% in July, compared to a 9.2% rise in June. Retail sales in July rose by 12.2%. But that's also below June's 12.4% spike.

• Monday, August 18th 2014 - 07:11 UTC

  Strong sales of Jaguar and Land Rover help boost Tata profits

  

  Tata Motors has reported a big jump in profits thanks to strong sales at its Jaguar Land Rover business. Net profits at India's biggest carmaker tripled to 53.98bn rupees (882m dollars) in the three months to the end of June, far more than analysts had expected. Revenue grew by almost 40%.

• Monday, August 18th 2014 - 07:04 UTC

  Scientists create a carbon dioxide absorbing 'polymer sponge' that helps new energy sources

  

  Scientists have created a new sponge-type material that absorbs carbon dioxide, which is believed to play a key role in global warming. The polymer – a large molecule used in plastics – is thought to have the potential to bridge the gap between the use of fossil fuels and new energy sources such as hydrogen, and could be integrated into power plant smokestacks in the future.

• Monday, August 18th 2014 - 06:52 UTC

  “Chile not proud of Falklands war support”, but “proud of peace treaty with Argentina”

  

  Defense minister Jorge Burgos said that most Chileans are not proud of the attitude of the Pinochet dictatorship when the Falklands/Malvinas war, but also admitted it happened at a very different and difficult moment in the relations between Chile and Argentina.

• Saturday, August 16th 2014 - 11:49 UTC

  Plenty of generic Viagra in Brazilian pharmacies as patent expires

  

  The day after Pfizer Inc’s patent for Viagra expired in Brazil, Carlos Sanchez flooded pharmacies with his generic erectile dysfunction pills. It was a day his army of lawyers, researchers and marketers had been preparing for more than three years, even winning a bid to move up the patent’s expiration date.

• Saturday, August 16th 2014 - 11:32 UTC

  Trust in Argentine reliability has vanished, as a result of the bonds' litigation

  

  Debt talks on Argentina’s defaulted bonds in the hands of holdout hedge funds ultimately collapsed this week due to disagreements over prices and the absence of a government guarantee to honor payments on the paper, sources close to the discussions said.

• Saturday, August 16th 2014 - 11:21 UTC

  All ready in Uruguay to receive Guantanamo prisoners, but public opinion is divided

  

  Uruguay will be receiving very soon six men who have spent more than a decade locked up without charge at the US base at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. The prisoners have been offered a refuge in Uruguay, where President José Mujica agreed as a humanitarian gesture to accept men that the U.S. has decided do not pose a threat but cannot return to their homelands.

• Saturday, August 16th 2014 - 11:15 UTC

  Billionaire Soros becomes the fourth largest holder of YPF shares

  

  George Soros’s 28 billion family office boosted its stake in YPF SA, making Argentina’s largest oil company its biggest U.S.-traded stock holding in the second quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC added 8.47 million shares of YPF, according to a regulatory filing Thursday, bringing its total position to 3.5% of the company’s American depositary receipts.