International

• Sunday, June 8th 2014 - 09:22 UTC

  Argentina's stars inflame Falklands row on eve of World Cup

  

  Argentina's footballers inflamed their country's rivalry with England on the eve of the World Cup on Saturday, unfurling a banner claiming sovereignty of the Falkland Islands before defeating Slovenia 2-0.

• Saturday, June 7th 2014 - 05:23 UTC

  Bank of England leaves rates unchanged; fears of house prices rising too fast

  

  The Bank of England kept its benchmark interest rate steady on Thursday to support the UK economy's ongoing recovery, as figures showed house prices rose at the most rapid pace in almost 12 years during May.

• Saturday, June 7th 2014 - 04:48 UTC

  IMF welcomes Argentina's implementation of actions on CPI and GDP indexes

  

  The International Monetary Fund (FMI) welcomed on Friday “all the specified actions,” taken by Argentine President Cristina Fernández administration, to improve Consumer prices and Gross Domestic Product indexes under INDEC National Statistics Bureau orbit.

• Saturday, June 7th 2014 - 04:37 UTC

  IMF warns UK about a possible 'housing bubble' and low productivity

  

  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned the government that accelerating house prices and low productivity pose the greatest threat to the UK's economic recovery. Rising property values could leave households more vulnerable to income and interest rate shocks.

• Saturday, June 7th 2014 - 03:52 UTC

  Foreign Office will continue to raise Falklands' sovereignty issue with the US

  

  The UK will continue to raise the issue of sovereignty of the Falkland Islands and the right of self determination of the Islanders with the United States administration at very senior levels, according to the UK government response to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.

• Friday, June 6th 2014 - 08:49 UTC

  Countdown for Argentina's decisive litigation with hedge funds; IMF concern

  

  The International Monetary Fund expressed “concern” on Thursday over the outcome of Argentina's 'vulture funds' case. The US Supreme Court is scheduled to consider on June 12 whether to hear Argentina's appeal of rulings requiring it to pay the holdout bondholders back in full.

• Friday, June 6th 2014 - 08:45 UTC

  “Raise your voice, not the sea level”, says UN chief on World Environment Day

  

  Barbados, a small Caribbean island at the cutting edge of the fight against climate change, will be hosting this year's World Environment Day, leading United Nations-wide efforts to draw attention to the plight of the world's small islands potentially in peril of being lost to sea-level rise.

• Friday, June 6th 2014 - 08:38 UTC

  Europe appeals to negative interest rates to stimulate the economy and inflation

  

  The European Central Bank has introduced a raft of measures aimed at stimulating the Euro zone economy, including negative interest rates and cheap long-term loans to banks. It cut its deposit rate for banks from zero to -0.1%, to encourage banks to lend to businesses rather than hold on to money. The ECB also cut its benchmark interest rate to 0.15% from 0.25%.

• Friday, June 6th 2014 - 08:21 UTC

  Pope's broom again active: names four experts to watchdog Vatican finances

  

  Pope Francis sacked on Thursday the five-man board of the Vatican's financial watchdog, all Italians, in the latest move to break with an old guard associated with a murky past under his predecessor.

• Friday, June 6th 2014 - 08:08 UTC

  World Cup tickets sold out, disappointing hundreds who queued for hours

  

  The remaining tickets for the most important World Cup matches were sold out fast on Wednesday, disappointing hundreds of fans who waited in line across Brazil.