International

• Wednesday, February 29th 2012 - 14:51 UTC

  ECB massive cheap funds influx hoping to ease credit and government borrowing

  

  Banks grabbed 530 billion Euros at the European Central Bank's second offering of cheap three-year funds on Wednesday, fuelling hopes that more credit will flow to businesses and government borrowing costs will ease further.

• Wednesday, February 29th 2012 - 14:35 UTC

  Foreign Office summons Argentine diplomat; limiting trade “counterproductive”

  

  Argentina's top diplomat in Britain was summoned to London's Foreign Office on Wednesday to explain his country's decision to ask 20 leading companies to stop importing British products and supplies.

• Wednesday, February 29th 2012 - 07:11 UTC

  Greece slashes minimum wage and pensions to help rescue the Euro

  

  Greece approved bitter new austerity measures on Tuesday, slashing the minimum wage and chopping pensions as Athens began implementing measures demanded by international lenders in return for a 130 billion Euro rescue package.

• Wednesday, February 29th 2012 - 01:43 UTC

  Pink Floyd lead singer says the Malvinas Islands “belong to Argentina”

  

  Former Pink Floyd lead singer Roger Waters, who has nine shows scheduled in Buenos Aires at the River Plate stadium this March, assured that the Malvinas Islands “belong to Argentina. He also stated that the 1982 war between Argentina and the UK “saved then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s political career.”

• Wednesday, February 29th 2012 - 01:24 UTC

  Argentina urges industry and business to cut imports from the UK

  

  The Buenos Aires media, basically the ambito.com site reports that Argentine industry and business leaders were contacted by the Ministry of Industry which tried to persuade them from buying British supplies.

• Wednesday, February 29th 2012 - 00:19 UTC

  Tugs pulling ‘Costa Allegra’ to Seychelles; helicopter drops of bread and torches

  

  Two tugs finally reached on Tuesday the stranded “Costa Allegra” cruise and are pulling her to the Seychelles Islands. The vessel on Monday suffered a fire which left her powerless approximately 200 miles southwest of the Indian Ocean islands.

• Tuesday, February 28th 2012 - 19:09 UTC

  UK ‘sad and frustrated’ with Argentine decision to turn away cruise vessels sailing from Falklands

  

  The British government has said it is a source of ”sadness and frustrated” that Argentina decided to turn away British tourists wishing to visit Argentina as a result of the ongoing row over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

• Tuesday, February 28th 2012 - 17:53 UTC

  Giant ‘Kariuku” penguins populated New Zealand some 27 million of years ago

  

  Palaeontologists have unearthed fossils of what they say the tallest ever penguin species that lived in what is now New Zealand some 27 million years ago. The he lanky bird that stood as high as 4.2 feet was also slimmer than modern penguins, with a long beak and flippers.

• Tuesday, February 28th 2012 - 17:49 UTC

  Judge Garzón cleared of investigation into murders by Franco forces

  

  Spain's Supreme Court cleared former judge Baltasar Garzón of overstepping his authority when he ordered an investigation into the murders of more than 100,000 people by forces loyal to late dictator Francisco Franco.

• Tuesday, February 28th 2012 - 17:33 UTC

  A quarter of people in England support Scotland becoming independent

  

  Just over a quarter of people in England support Scotland becoming independent, a new survey has found. The latest NatCen Social Research British Social Attitudes Survey found 26% of English residents favoured ending the union between the two countries, the highest figure yet in such a survey.