International

• Monday, July 23rd 2012 - 08:46 UTC

  The global super-rich have at least 21trillion dollars hidden in secret tax havens

  

  The global super-rich elite had at least 21 trillion dollars hidden in secret tax havens by the end of 2010, according to a major study. The figure is equivalent to the size of the US and Japanese economies combined.

• Monday, July 23rd 2012 - 08:41 UTC

  Euro-zone countdown for Greece: Germany and IMF will not yield on austerity measures

  

  German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned Greece in a newspaper interview Monday that it must redouble efforts to comply with bailout conditions imposed by international creditors. “If there were delays, Greece must make up for them,” he told the daily Bild.

• Monday, July 23rd 2012 - 08:18 UTC

  Gibraltar demands action from UK, after latest incident with Spain’s Guardia Civil

  

  The Gibraltar government has told the UK that 'the time has now come for action, not simply written protests from London to Madrid' in defence of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, following the latest incident where a Gibraltar vessel was boarded by the Guardia Civil in Gibraltar waters 'and forcibly conveyed' together with its occupants to Algeciras 'at high speed and without navigational lights.'

• Monday, July 23rd 2012 - 04:22 UTC

  Scientists discover whales learn to protect their ears from loud noise

  

  Scientists have long known that man-made, underwater noises — from engines, sonar, weapons testing, and such industrial tools as air guns used in oil and gas exploration — are deafening whales and other sea mammals.

• Monday, July 23rd 2012 - 04:15 UTC

  After 18 years of negotiations Russia is member of World Trade Organization

  

  President Vladimir Putin signed the bill ratifying Russia’s entry to the World Trade Organisation after 18 years of often acrimonious negotiations, the Kremlin press office said.

• Monday, July 23rd 2012 - 04:06 UTC

  EU parliament president warns economic crisis could spark “social explosion”

  

  European Parliament president Martin Schulz warned this weekend that Spain's economic crisis could spark a “social explosion” across the continent.

• Monday, July 23rd 2012 - 02:55 UTC

  Olympic Committee “glad” Argentina will avoid politically tainted demonstrations

  

  The head of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge assured he was “glad” that President Cristina Fernández had called the Argentine athletes to avoid demonstrations over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands sovereignty dispute during the Olympic Games of London 2012.

• Saturday, July 21st 2012 - 06:50 UTC

  UK receives first of next generation of stealth aircraft, STOVL F-35 Lightning II

  

  The first of the UK's next generation of stealth combat aircraft, Lightning II, was handed over to the Ministry of Defence at a ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond formally accepted the first of the jets which are short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and are manufactured by Lockheed Martin.

• Saturday, July 21st 2012 - 06:16 UTC

  Chinese electric-battery buses for Uruguay; the first arrive at end of 2012

  

  China’ BYD has inked another strategic deal for its electric bus products, this time in Uruguay with one of the country’s leading tourism companies. The agreement was witnessed by Uruguay’s president Jose Mujica.

• Saturday, July 21st 2012 - 06:08 UTC

  Angola approves wide-ranging cooperation agreement with Brazil

  

  Angola’s National Assembly approved this week the Joint Declaration on the Establishment of Strategic Partnership with Brazil, as well as the draft resolution on Cooperation between the two countries in defence domain.