International

• Monday, February 6th 2012 - 06:46 UTC

  A majority of Germans feel Euro block would be better off without Greece

  

  The majority of Germans feel the Euro currency bloc would be better off if debt-crippled Greece left it, a poll published in mass-selling newspaper Bild am Sonntag showed.

• Monday, February 6th 2012 - 06:37 UTC

  Queen begins celebration of the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne

  

  Queen Elizabeth II has said she is dedicating herself “anew to your service”, as she marks the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne. In a message, she also said she felt “deeply moved” by the support shown for her Diamond Jubilee.

• Sunday, February 5th 2012 - 08:02 UTC

  Added sugar and sweeteners are “health risks as serious as alcohol and tobacco”

  

  US experts have argued that sugars and sweeteners added to foods pose such a serious health risk that they should be controlled in the same way that alcohol and tobacco are, according to commentary in the journal Nature.

• Sunday, February 5th 2012 - 07:26 UTC

  Malvinas conflict is diplomatic: “unnecessary ostentation of firepower” from UK

  

  Argentine Defence minister Arturo Puricelli described UK’s announcement to send state of the art and latest incorporation to the Royal Navy HMS Dauntless, and according to the London press a nuclear powered submersible, to the disputed Falklands/Malvinas Islands as “an unnecessary ostentation of fire power”

• Saturday, February 4th 2012 - 19:46 UTC

  Costa Cruises calls for tenders to remove the crippled Concordia cruise vessel

  

  Plans have been put in place to start removing the wreck of the Costa Concordia after it run aground with 4.200 people on board last month. Costa Cruises confirmed that it has called for tenders from 10 specialist companies for the removal of the crippled vessel.

• Saturday, February 4th 2012 - 19:42 UTC

  Captain Schettino’s lover admits she was in the Concordia bridge when the crash

  

  The Moldovan blonde spotted with the captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, on the night of the disaster, has told Italian investigators she is in love with him.

• Saturday, February 4th 2012 - 05:37 UTC

  PM Cameron meets Obama in March ahead of the Falklands conflict anniversary

  

  British Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama will meet in Washington next month, three weeks before the 30 anniversary of the beginning of the Falklands conflict.

• Friday, February 3rd 2012 - 23:19 UTC

  IMF calls on emerging countries to contribute to increase its war-chest

  

  International Monetary Fund should proceed with talks on increasing the size of its war-chest at the same time as Europe discusses how to build a firewall to contain its debt crisis, a senior official from the fund said on Friday.

• Friday, February 3rd 2012 - 19:04 UTC

  Spain committed to best UK relations but asks for Gibraltar sovereignty talks

  

  Spain has formally asked Britain to reopen talks over the sovereignty of Gibraltar. The petition was made by Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Garcia-Margallo shortly after UK Europe Minister David Lidington told an audience in Madrid that Britain would not discuss sovereignty against Gibraltar’s wishes.

• Friday, February 3rd 2012 - 19:00 UTC

  China has neither the ability or the intention to ‘buy Europe’ says Wen Jibao

  

  China's Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday the Asian giant had neither the ability nor the intention to “buy Europe”, amid concerns over growing Chinese investment in debt-stricken Euro zone economies.