International

• Monday, March 5th 2012 - 05:34 UTC

  Putin declares victory; opposition claim fraud, protests scheduled for Monday

  

  Vladimir Putin has declared victory in Russia's presidential elections, returning for a third term after spending the last four years as the country's PM. Exit polls and preliminary results gave him about 60% of the vote.

• Monday, March 5th 2012 - 05:28 UTC

  Enjoy chocolate: it helps to lower blood pressure says scientific research

  

  Eating chocolate is not only a treat for the tongue -- it may also have some tangible benefits for heart health, such as lowering blood pressure slightly, according to a study involving more than a thousand people.

• Saturday, March 3rd 2012 - 04:43 UTC

  Morrissey joins the controversy saying the “Falklands belong to Argentina”

  

  Morrissey has waded into the row over the Falkland Islands telling the audience at an Argentine gig that they “belong to you”. The former Smiths front-man, who counts Prime Minister David Cameron among his fans, made the remarks during a concert in Cordoba, Argentina.

• Friday, March 2nd 2012 - 22:05 UTC

  Falkland Islands: Why we can't accept Cristina's 'kind' gesture

  

  By John Fowler (*) - I handed the family's passports to a rather stern-looking official behind a desk, while my wife and mother-in-law passed through into the departure lounge with our daughter, who was just a few months short of her first birthday. Along with the passports, I also handed over three white identity cards. These were issued by the country through which we were in transit on our way to holidays in Britain from our home in the Falkland Islands.

• Friday, March 2nd 2012 - 21:33 UTC

  Any negotiations “must start from a position of trust” Falklands tells Argentina

  

  Negotiations must start from a position of trust and “it is hard to trust a Government who so easily break their word, and who deny our right to exist as a people”, said Falklands lawmaker Roger Edwards in response to the announcement by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on direct air-links to the Falklands.

• Friday, March 2nd 2012 - 07:11 UTC

  EU objectives of fisheries policy are not negotiable, warns Damanaki

  

  Members of the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU) were warned by EU Commissioner for Fisheries, Maria Damanaki, that she is not willing to hand over any of the objectives in the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), which is currently being negotiated.

• Friday, March 2nd 2012 - 05:55 UTC

  Brazil claims rich countries “tsunami” of cheap money triggers “currency war”

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff slammed rich nations on Thursday for unleashing a “tsunami” of cheap money that was “cannibalizing” poorer countries such as her own, forcing them to act to protect struggling local industries.

• Friday, March 2nd 2012 - 05:50 UTC

  Professional football players’ transfers reached 3 billion dollars in 2011 says FIFA

  

  FIFA Transfer Matching System GmbH has published on Thursday the first edition of the annual report Global Transfer Market 2011. This report provides a comprehensive insight into football transfers worldwide, on which over 3 billion dollars was spent last year in the professional male football market.

• Friday, March 2nd 2012 - 05:06 UTC

  Falklands distrust to Argentine proposal, but recall 1999 deal is ‘three sided’

  

  Falkland Islanders reacted with skepticism and further distrust to the latest announcements by Argentine president Cristina Fernandez regarding air links with Argentina, while Falklands’ elected lawmakers said the proposal was too ‘muddled’ and with errors for the local government to respond.

• Thursday, March 1st 2012 - 23:11 UTC

  Argentina and Spain agree to a working group to help resolve YPF ‘differences’

  

  Spain and Argentina formed a working group to resolve their “differences” over YPF, the Argentine oil company majority-owned by Madrid-based Repsol-YPF, Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria said.