International

Tuesday, July 20th 2010 - 04:07 UTC
China buys controlling stake of New Zealand milk processor

Bright Dairy & Food Co., a unit of Shanghai’s biggest food company, agreed to buy a controlling stake in Synlait Milk Ltd., a New Zealand milk processor planning to double capacity at its South Island plant.
Tuesday, July 20th 2010 - 03:35 UTC
Moody’s cuts Ireland’s credit rating; warns of slow recovery

Risk rating agency Moody’s cut on Monday Ireland's credit rating, warning the country faces a slow climb out of recession as the cost of a rescue of its banking sector mounts.
Monday, July 19th 2010 - 04:21 UTC
Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain, the Euro and now Hungary: who’s next?

The IMF and EU suspended a review of Hungary's funding program, set up in 2008 to save the country from financial meltdown, saying it must take tough action to meet targets for cutting its budget deficit.
Monday, July 19th 2010 - 04:14 UTC
China promises Germany’s Merkel support for the Euro

Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, has said that China will continue to invest in European markets, despite the debt problems affecting many Euro zone countries. He was speaking in Beijing alongside the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. She described his pledge as an important signal that China has confidence in the Euro.
Monday, July 19th 2010 - 02:45 UTC
EU almost free of ‘mad-cow’ plans to soften 1996 regulations

The nightmare of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis – or Mad Cow Disease) is mercifully almost forgotten in the EU now. In total almost 200,000 cases of BSE were discovered in the EU. But there were only 67 cases last year and those were in very old animals probably infected many years ago.
Monday, July 19th 2010 - 00:36 UTC
Stone promises to keep exposing the “white man” but with a doses of entertainment

“It’s always a simple repeat of what happens in Iraq, Afghanistan or South America. It’s the white man who fights people he believes are inferior”, confessed US filmmaker Oliver Stone talking about his recent “South of the Border”.
Monday, July 19th 2010 - 00:15 UTC
World production of rough rice affected by dry weather in Mekong River

Global production of rough rice, the staple for half the world’s population, may be 6 million tons less than estimated earlier this year after prolonged dry weather in the Mekong River region hurt crops, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Saturday, July 17th 2010 - 06:47 UTC
The Foreign Office report on British Behaviour Abroad 2009/2010

Lack of travel insurance and inadequate preparation compound the hazards faced by many Britons abroad, according to the Foreign Office’s new British Behaviour Abroad report.
Saturday, July 17th 2010 - 06:32 UTC
Paul, the oracle octopus not for sale Germany tells Madrid zoo

The Madrid zoo made this week a transfer bid for Paul the oracle octopus his aquarium in Germany it would outbid all others and give him a warm welcome in gratitude for predicting Spain’s soccer World Cup win.
Friday, July 16th 2010 - 07:54 UTC
New UK government retakes Trilateral talks with Spain and Gibraltar

The first set of high level Trilateral technical talks involving a UK Conservative-Liberal coalition government are to take place in Gibraltar next week, it was formally confirmed.