International

• Monday, August 20th 2012 - 04:45 UTC

  Unasur calls for dialogue to solve the controversy between Ecuador and the UK

  

  The Union of South American Nations (Unasur) called for dialogue to solve the crisis between Ecuador and Great Britain regarding the diplomatic asylum granted by the Andean country to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange who is holed in at the embassy in London.

• Monday, August 20th 2012 - 04:39 UTC

  Ecuador willing to resume talks once UK withdraws ‘threat’ regarding embassy

  

  Ecuador has been, and is open to dialogue to the UK if London withdraws its “threat” to raid the embassy in London to arrest Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, according to Ecuador’s Foreign minister Ricardo Patiño who revealed that the two countries had been holding bilateral discussions on the issue for the last two months.

• Monday, August 20th 2012 - 04:31 UTC

  Assange claims UK police tried to enter Ecuadorean embassy last Wednesday

  

  Speaking on Sunday in front of the condor of the Ecuadorean coat of arms on the white balcony railing of the embassy in London, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange thanked President Rafael Correa and Ecuador's diplomats, whom he praised for standing up against oppression, but also revealed the police tried to break in last Wednesday.

• Monday, August 20th 2012 - 04:28 UTC

  Assange calls on President Obama to end the witch-hunt against Wikileaks

  

  The founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange used the balcony of the Ecuadorean embassy on Sunday to berate the United States for threatening freedom of expression and called on President Barack Obama to end what he called a witch-hunt against his whistle-blowing website.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 05:50 UTC

  China’s (and the world) leading bank authorized to operate in Brazil

  

  One of the world’s leading banks, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has been authorised to operate in Brazil, indicates a Brazilian government decision published on Thursday in the official gazette.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 05:45 UTC

  Euro zone June trade surplus was the highest since 1999

  

  The Euro zone trade surplus hit 14.9bn Euros in June up from 200m Euros a year ago. The surplus was the highest since the European Union's statistics agency began collecting data in 1999.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 05:39 UTC

  First shipment of New Zealand lamb to Brazil, a market of “great potential”

  

  New Zealand's first branded lamb shipment to Brazil is scheduled to arrive at the port of Santos in the middle of next month and be available at 120 stores in Sao Paulo and to diners in restaurants and hotels throughout the country.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 05:32 UTC

  Tropical fish moving south because of climate change says Australian report

  

  Australia’s Marine Climate Change 2012, released on Friday, provides evidence of a large-scale redistribution of marine species in ecosystems around Australia. Dr Elvira Poloczanska, who led the study, says there's a lot of uncertainty about the long-term impacts.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 05:28 UTC

  US scientists develop a translucent polymer robot inspired in the squid

  

  Scientists in the United States said they had devised a rubbery robot, inspired by the squid and octopus, which can crawl, camouflage itself and hide from infrared cameras. The Pentagon-backed gadget is the latest type of a so-called soft machine, meaning silicone-based robots that are made from squidgy, translucent polymers.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 02:02 UTC

  OAS decides to hold ministerial meeting on Ecuador-UK conflict next week

  

  The Organization of American States (OAS) has scheduled an emergency meeting of its foreign ministers next week to discuss the differences between Ecuador and Britain over the asylum that Quito granted to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.