International

• Tuesday, October 8th 2013 - 18:15 UTC

  Brazil limits Chinese state-controlled companies to joint bidding for largest offshore oil prospect

  

  Brazil is limiting Chinese state-controlled oil companies to joint bids to develop its largest offshore oil discovery, amid concerns the players could share data and reduce competition ahead of the 21 October auction, said Brazilian officials.

• Tuesday, October 8th 2013 - 17:20 UTC

  London launches paper warning on defence income lost and costs for an independent Scotland

  

  A Scotland analysis paper on Defense, published on Tuesday, highlights the extent to which an independent Scotland would no longer benefit from the £34 billion annual UK defense budget, one of the largest in the world.

• Tuesday, October 8th 2013 - 06:38 UTC

  Nobel medicine prize for work on how hormones are transported in and outside cells

  

  Americans James Rothman and Randy Schekman and Germany's Thomas Suedhof won the 2013 Nobel medicine prize for their work on how hormones are transported within and outside cells, giving insight into diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer's.

• Tuesday, October 8th 2013 - 06:29 UTC

  US Fed issues the new hi-tech 100 dollar bill with 3D security ribbon

  

  The US Federal Reserve has issued a new hi-tech 100 dollar banknote comprising several new security features. It includes a blue 3D security ribbon and a bell and inkwell logo that authorities say are particularly difficult to replicate.

• Tuesday, October 8th 2013 - 01:25 UTC

  Ahead of Scotland referendum and 2015 election Cameron reshuffles cabinet

  

  British Prime Minister David Cameron has kicked off a coalition reshuffle, with Scottish Secretary Michael Moore among the casualties. The Liberal Democrat's Cabinet post is being taken by the party's chief whip Alistair Carmichael, just a year before the crucial referendum on independence north of the border.

• 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.