International

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 19:37 UTC

  Ship linked to Captain Scott’s failed South Pole expedition found off Greenland

  

  The wreck of the ship that carried Captain Robert Scott on his doomed expedition to the Antarctic a century ago has been discovered off Greenland. The SS Terra Nova was found by a team from a US research company.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 19:27 UTC

  UK determined to extradite Assange in spite of asylum granted by Ecuador

  

  Ecuador has granted asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange two months after he took refuge in its London embassy while fighting extradition from the UK, but Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK would not allow Assange safe passage out of the country.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 05:02 UTC

  China soon to become Venezuela’s main trade partner; oil sales soared 60% this year

  

  Venezuelan oil sales to China have jumped by 60% since the start of the year, the country's oil minister said in an interview published on Sunday in the state-run Correo del Orinoco.

• Thursday, August 16th 2012 - 01:24 UTC

  Ecuador claims UK prepared to raid London embassy to catch Assange

  

  Ecuador said on Wednesday the British government had threatened to raid its embassy in London if WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is not handed over, and that Quito would make its decision on his asylum request on Thursday.

• Wednesday, August 15th 2012 - 23:40 UTC

  World Health Organization praises Australia’s high court ruling on cigarette packaging

  

  The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday it strongly welcomes the landmark decision from Australia’s High Court to dismiss a legal challenge from the tobacco industry, and calls on the rest of the world to follow Australia’s tough stance on tobacco marketing.

• Wednesday, August 15th 2012 - 08:57 UTC

  Standard Chartered reaches agreement with US regulators, pays 340m fine

  

  Standard Chartered has agreed a 340 million dollars settlement with New York regulators that accused it of hiding 250bn of transactions with Iran. The hearing that had been scheduled for Wednesday has now been adjourned.

• Wednesday, August 15th 2012 - 00:50 UTC

  Euro zone contracts 0.2% in Q2; Germany remains strong but exposed to contagion

  

  The Euro zone debt-ravaged economy shrank in the second quarter (after a dismal first) and despite continued German growth which economists said could soon be snuffed out.

• Tuesday, August 14th 2012 - 23:51 UTC

  Sunflower seed production down in Europe because of lack of rainfall

  

  Sunflower seed production in the European Union, Ukraine and Russia will drop 11.7% to a total of 24.82 million tons this year, from 28.12 million tons a year ago, Hamburg-based oilseed analyst Oil World said on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, August 14th 2012 - 22:10 UTC

  US, France and Mexico considering G20 emergency meeting to address soaring grain prices

  

  US, France and Mexico are planning talks to consider whether an emergency meeting is needed to tackle the soaring price of grain. The three will hold a conference call at the end of this month after the worst US drought in 50 years threatens to cause a sharp rise in the cost of staple crops.

• Tuesday, August 14th 2012 - 22:01 UTC

  Standard Chartered CEO in US to discuss money laundering allegations

  

  Standard Chartered chief executive is in New York to negotiate directly with the US regulator that accused it of “scheming” to hide 250bn dollars of transactions with Iran. The regulator will hold a hearing on Wednesday to decide whether to revoke the bank's New York banking licence. It is unclear yet whether Peter Sands will attend the hearing.