International

• Friday, January 6th 2012 - 06:40 UTC

  All time record price for a 296 kilos blue-fin in Tokyo market: 712.000 dollars

  

  A deep-pocketed restaurateur has paid more than 700.000 dollars for a tuna at Japan's Tsukiji fish market, smashing the record for a single blue-fin. Bidding on the 269kg fish, caught off the coast of Japan's northern Aomori prefecture, stood at an eye-popping 711.864 dollars when the hammer came down in the first auction of the year.

• Thursday, January 5th 2012 - 05:08 UTC

  EU slower December inflation could be followed by more interest rate cuts

  

  Euro zone inflation eased from last year's peaks of 3.0% in December, the first sign of a fall in price growth this year that analysts expect will create room for more interest rate cuts to help the weakening economy.

• Thursday, January 5th 2012 - 05:05 UTC

  Belgian board member named chief economist of European Central Bank

  

  European Central Bank has named Belgian executive board member Peter Praet as its chief economist following the resignation of Juergen Stark.

• Wednesday, January 4th 2012 - 17:41 UTC

  Hybrid sharks in Australia indicate animals are adapting to climate change

  

  Researchers have discovered the world's first hybrid sharks in Australian waters, indicating that animals are adapting to climate change for survival.

• Wednesday, January 4th 2012 - 06:16 UTC

  Unemployment in Spain climbs to 4.4 million at end of 2011

  

  Spain ended 2011 with record high unemployment, according to data released Tuesday as the new conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy considers additional austerity measures to reduce the budget deficit.

• Wednesday, January 4th 2012 - 05:45 UTC

  Russia approves 2012 import meat quotas: 530.000 tons of frozen beef

  

  The Russian government approved import quotas for meat in 2012, according to a resolution published on Tuesday, reports Meat Trade Daily.

• Wednesday, January 4th 2012 - 05:43 UTC

  FAO forecasts more food price volatility with more people at risk of hunger

  

  Food prices may ease in 2012 due to a slowing global economy, though no drastic drop from high levels is expected, the new director-general of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, January 4th 2012 - 05:31 UTC

  HMS Protector ‘complies with all requirements’ to operate from Montevideo

  

  Uruguay authorized the Royal Navy Ice Patrol HMS Protector into Montevideo because it complies with normal procedure in spite of the fact that its next port of call is Stanley in Falklands/Malvinas.

• Wednesday, January 4th 2012 - 05:27 UTC

  Greece admits it is closer to be forced out of the Euro zone

  

  Greece faces an exit from Europe's common currency block unless it clinches a deal on a second 130 billion Euro bailout with its international lenders, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, January 4th 2012 - 05:23 UTC

  German miracle, unemployment falls to its lowest since December 1991

  

  German unemployment fell to its lowest rate in December since 1991, according to the German Federal Labour Agency.