International

• Monday, June 24th 2013 - 08:18 UTC

  Francis will meet indigenous leaders abused and persecuted in northern Argentina

  

  Following a request made by Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Pope Francis is scheduled to meet on Monday with Félix Díaz, the chief of the La Primavera Qom indigenous community from northern Argentina.

• Monday, June 24th 2013 - 08:17 UTC

  UK and China sign three year currency swap to make business in Yuan

  

  The Bank of England and its Chinese counterpart have signed a deal likely to boost trade between the UK and China in the Yuan. The BoE and the People’s bank of China have signed a three year currency swap arrangement worth 200bn Yuan (33bn dollars), the UK central bank confirmed.

• Monday, June 24th 2013 - 08:15 UTC

  End of near-zero interest rates; governments must do more for economic recovery and reform, says BIS

  

  The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) says banks have done their bit to help economic recovery and governments must do more. The Basel bases organization, known as the “central banks' central bank” says it is time for them to stop pumping funds into their economies.

• Monday, June 24th 2013 - 08:13 UTC

  Europe remains divided as to how to bail-out failed banks; next try Wednesday

  

  Europe failed to agree on how to share the cost of bank collapses, as Germany resisted attempts by France to water down rules designed to spare taxpayers in future crises.

• Monday, June 24th 2013 - 03:03 UTC

  Falklands: Sierra Leone says self-determination is paramount and supports sending C24 mission to the Islands

  

  Sierra Leone, member of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization maintained that the rights of the Islanders, present in the Falkland/Malvinas Islands for 180 years, should be paramount to any settlement and that self determination was the guiding principle of any resolution to the question. “There is no dispute that the people are the holders of the right to self-determination”.

• Saturday, June 22nd 2013 - 05:55 UTC

  FCO Director for Europe next British ambassador to Spain

  

  The British Government has appointed a new ambassador to Spain. Simon Manley will succeed Giles Paxman as the UK’s ambassador in Madrid and non-resident ambassador to Andorra. He takes up the post in October.

• Saturday, June 22nd 2013 - 05:51 UTC

  Pacific Alliance in a “marketing success” and no concern for Mercosur, says Brazil

  

  The Pacific Alliance is a ‘marketing success’ and does not represent a concern for Mercosur since it does not have the potential for physical integration as other blocks from the region, said Brazilian Foreign minister Antonio Patriota during a congressional hearing this week in Brasilia.

• Friday, June 21st 2013 - 16:54 UTC

  UK consolidates its position as world’s second defense exporter after the US

  

  New figures published on Friday by the UK Trade and Investment Defense and Security Organization (UKTI DSO) show that UK defense exports totaled £8.8 billion over the past year, a rise of 62% from 2011 in a global market that grew by 45%. The results mean the UK maintains its position as the second most successful defense exporter after the United States.

• Friday, June 21st 2013 - 16:41 UTC

  Russia to supply China 270bn dollars in oil on 25 year contract

  

  Russian state oil company Rosneft has agreed to double its oil supplies to China, in a deal worth 270bn dollars over 25 years. Under the terms of the deal, Rosneft will supply 300.000 barrels of oil a day to China starting in 2015.

• Friday, June 21st 2013 - 16:29 UTC

  Irish-bred sheepdog ‘Bob’ is auctioned at a record-breaking €11,000

  

  An Irish-bred sheepdog has shot to fame by becoming the most expensive working dog ever sold at an official sale, making almost €11,000 at auction. Bob, a 15-month-old dog sold by John Bell of Parks Farm, Howden, Selby in East Yorkshire, for a record-breaking £9,240 at the working dog sale in Skipton Auction Mart, North Yorkshire, on May 17.