International

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 05:08 UTC

  Argentina surprised by Germany, which voted against granting a loan at the IDB

  

  “We’re a free country with dignity and national pride; we are nobody’s employee or subordinate” challenged Argentine president Cristina Fernandez after it was revealed that the US, Spain and Germany at the Inter American Development bank (IDB) had voted against granting the country a loan.

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 04:46 UTC

  Global food prices index soars 10% in July: World Bank sound the alarm

  

  Global food prices soared by 10% in July from a month ago, with maize and soybean reaching all-time peaks due to an unprecedented summer of droughts and high temperatures in both the United States and Eastern Europe, according to the World Bank Group’s latest Food Price Watch report.

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 04:42 UTC

  Soy reaches record price at 650 dollars the ton, and could keep climbing

  

  Soy beans in Chicago climbed to their highest having advanced 0.4% on Thursday to 650.47 dollars the ton, while corn up 0.2% to 319.47 dollars the ton came closer to its record value of last August, 327.25 dollars. Wheat meantime slid 0.2% to 324.64 dollars the ton.

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 01:44 UTC

  Chile ratifies support for Argentine Malvinas; meets regional solidarity group

  

  Foreign minister Alfredo Moreno ratified Chilean support for Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands during a meeting with a delegation from Andean countries belonging to the “Solidarity Group with Malvinas”.

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 01:33 UTC

  Iran denies interest in nuclear weapons, but Egypt spoils the party

  

  Iran has no interest in nuclear weapons but will keep pursuing peaceful nuclear energy, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told heads of state from developing countries in Tehran.

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 01:20 UTC

  China pledges support for Euro-zone; orders 50 planes from Europe Airbus

  

  China has signed a deal to buy 50 planes worth 3.5bn dollars from Europe's Airbus. The agreement is part of a slew of trade deals signed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the start of a two-day visit to China.

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 01:10 UTC

  EC with “no powers to intervene” in Spain/Gibraltar bay fishing dispute

  

  The European Commission has told a South West of England and Gibraltar Member of the European Parliament that it has no powers to intervene in the ongoing standoffs at sea between local law enforcement agencies and the Guardia Civil.

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 01:01 UTC

  Germany wants Google to pay fees to the media for displaying news headlines

  

  The German government approved this week a controversial bill that would require Internet search engine companies such as Google to pay fees to the German media for displaying news headlines on their websites.

• Friday, August 31st 2012 - 00:42 UTC

  Ecuadorian columnist sentenced to jail and million dollars fine granted asylum in the US

  

  A newspaper columnist who fled Ecuador after he was sentenced to jail and ordered to pay millions of dollars in a libel case pushed by President Rafael Correa has been granted asylum in the United States, his lawyer said on Thursday.

• Thursday, August 30th 2012 - 05:09 UTC

  Chile joins the Colombia/FARC peace talks scheduled to take off in Norway

  

  Cuba will be the permanent seat for the peace dialogue between the government of Colombia and the FARC guerrilla group, talks which will have the support from Norway, Venezuela and Chile according to a broadcasting station from Bogotá.