International

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 01:48 UTC

  Brazil and Japan allege over 100 countries support UN Security Council reform

  

  Foreign Affairs ministers from Brazil and Japan announced that over 100 nations have expressed support for a proposal to expand the United Nations Security Council.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 01:38 UTC

  Beijing-Shanghai high speed train link begins commercial operations

  

  High speed trains linking Beijing and Shanghai made their commercial debut on Thursday on a 33 billion US dollars track China hopes will open a new page to the country’s rail history and help ease its overloaded transport system.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 20:10 UTC

  Relief in financial markets: Greece approves austerity and privatization package

  

  The Greek parliament approved on Thursday detailed austerity and privatization bills in a crucial vote to secure emergency funds and avert imminent bankruptcy, but longer-term dangers still lurk.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 20:06 UTC

  Pickets take to the streets of Britain to protest pension reforms

  

  Teachers and civil servants marched through the streets and picketed government buildings across Britain today in protest at planned pension reforms, launching what could be a long period of labour unrest over austerity measures.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 07:09 UTC

  US daily calorie intake up 30% in 30 years: cut on snacks and king size portion

  

  Snacking and super sizing are two of the dieter's worst enemies, research suggests. The average daily calorie intake in the US has increased by almost a third in 30 years, reaching 2,374 kilocalories.

• Thursday, June 30th 2011 - 06:58 UTC

  IMF urges a political agreement on the US federal debt ceiling

  

  Failure by US lawmakers to agree soon on a deal to raise the government's borrowing limit could deliver a “severe shock” to a still fragile recovery and global markets, the International Monetary Fund warned.

• Wednesday, June 29th 2011 - 23:03 UTC

  KLM will begin fuelling some of its flights with used cooking oil

  

  Dutch carrier KLM announced Wednesday it would begin using used cooking oil for some of its flights. The announcement comes less than two years after the airline flew the first bio-kerosene-fuelled passenger flight in Europe.

• Wednesday, June 29th 2011 - 16:42 UTC

  Greek parliament approves austerity measures, preventing first Euro zone default

  

  Greece's parliament approved early Wednesday deeply unpopular austerity measures despite worsening violence, in a vote vital toward securing international funds and preventing the Euro zone's first sovereign default.

• Wednesday, June 29th 2011 - 16:26 UTC

  US latest wars have cost the Treasury 4.4 trillion USD, says academic report

  

  United States President Barack Obama cited cost as a reason to bring troops home from Afghanistan and referred to a one trillion US dollars price tag for US wars. The figure grossly underestimates the total cost of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the US Treasury and ignores more imposing costs yet to come, according to a study released Wednesday.

• Wednesday, June 29th 2011 - 06:35 UTC

  Argentine election fever: minister accuses UK of keeping hostage “2000 Falklands’ Islanders”

  

  In the midst of Argentina’s campaign for the October presidential election, Defence minister Arturo Puricelli accused the UK of using military force to keep “the Falkland Islanders as hostages” and said Argentina won’t fall prey of “militaristic” provocations.