International

• Friday, February 26th 2010 - 01:27 UTC

  Peru/China free trade agreement becomes effective next March first

  

  The free trade agreement between Peru and China becomes fully effective as of next Monday March first, according to the publication on Thursday of the official decree in Peru’s gazette. China has become Peru’s main trade partner behind the US.

• Friday, February 26th 2010 - 01:23 UTC

  Fed probe into Wall Street firms role in helping Greece mask debt woes

  

  The role of Wall Street firms in deals that may have helped Greece mask its debt woes are under scrutiny in the US, the Federal Reserve chief has said. Ben Bernanke said the Fed and the US financial watchdog were “looking into a number of questions” related to banks' derivatives arrangements with Greece

• Thursday, February 25th 2010 - 01:21 UTC

  World trade drops 12% in 2009; re-launching Doha round “imperative”

  

  World Trade Organisation director-general Pascal Lamy said on Wednesday that international trade fell by 12% in 2009, a marked deterioration on previous estimates which put the drop closer to 10%.

• Thursday, February 25th 2010 - 01:11 UTC

  Genetically altered mosquitoes to help curb spread of dengue fever

  

  Scientists are breeding a genetically altered strain of mosquito in an effort to curb the spread of dengue fever. The dengue virus is spread by the bite of infected female mosquitoes and there is no vaccine or treatment.

• Thursday, February 25th 2010 - 01:06 UTC

  Sperm whales herd hunt “squid balls” at depths over 1.000 meters

  

  Sperm whales may team up and hunt collaboratively, scientists have suggested. A US research team used hi-tech tags to glimpse some of the giant marine mammals' remarkable hunting behaviour.

• Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 07:13 UTC

  UN praises Latinamerican social policies to confront global crisis

  

  The United Nations development agency stressed the need for good social policies to help Latin America deal with the impact of the global economic crisis, which threatens to undo the progress achieved in the region in fighting poverty and other socio-economic ills.

• Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 06:15 UTC

  Brazil’s Lula da Silva blasts US Security Council and Britain

  

  Brazilian president Lula da Silva condemned on Tuesday the United Nations Organization (UN) and its Security Council for not recognizing Argentina's sovereignty over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands.

• Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 02:11 UTC

  Possible mixed Gibraltar/Spain police patrols to avoid marine incidents

  

  A proposal for the creation of mixed police patrols between the RG Police and the Guardia Civil is one of the matters under discussion in the ongoing technical round of talks of the Tripartite Forum, according to reports in the Madrid daily ABC.

• Tuesday, February 23rd 2010 - 03:26 UTC

  Financier Soros warns about future of the Euro and Euro-zone

  

  The Euro risks falling apart unless Euro-zone member nations alter the way they tackle future debt crises, financier George Soros warned Monday in an article published in the Financial Times.

• Monday, February 22nd 2010 - 23:56 UTC

  NZ joins Australia in pressing Japan to end annual whale hunt in Antarctica

  

  New Zealand said Monday it may join Australia in seeking international legal action against Japan over its annual whale hunt in the Antarctic if negotiations fail to produce a diplomatic solution.