International

• Tuesday, March 16th 2010 - 05:10 UTC

  Europe agrees to help Greece but loan guarantees have been ruled out

  

  Europe's finance ministers agreed Monday how to help Greece in its battle to control its finances. After a meeting in Brussels, they revealed few details, except that they had ruled out any loan guarantees.

• Tuesday, March 16th 2010 - 04:58 UTC

  Rio Tinto/Alcan presents project for 2.5bn aluminium smelter in Paraguay

  

  Rio Tinto Alcan, a unit of global mining giant Rio Tinto formally presented on Monday plans to invest 2.5 billion US dollars in an aluminium smelter in Paraguay, according to corporation and Asuncion sources.

• Tuesday, March 16th 2010 - 04:57 UTC

  British Airways announces strike contingency plan for 60% of its customers

  

  British Airways says 60% of its customers will be able to keep their travel plans during planned strikes by cabin crew. Industrial action is set to begin with a three-day walkout from Saturday March 20, followed by a four-day stoppage from Saturday March 27.

• Monday, March 15th 2010 - 21:58 UTC

  Lula da Silva refers to Ahmadinejad and Chavez as two “nutties”, says O’Globo

  

  Brazilian president Lula da Silva allegedly referred to Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez as “nutty” leaders which must be kept under control through close links, reports the Brazilian newspaper O’Globo.

• Monday, March 15th 2010 - 21:54 UTC

  Israel discloses information on terrorist attack against embassy in Argentina

  

  In the week of the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, the Israeli government claims to have identified the intellectual and material perpetrators of the bombing which left 29 dead, 242 wounded on March 17th, 1992.

• Monday, March 15th 2010 - 21:49 UTC

  Canada suffers 17th case of mad cow and is categorized as “controlled risk”

  

  The president of Canada Beef Export Federation says the country's 17th case of mad cow disease has not affected markets. The beef cow was born in 2004 in Alberta, and the fatal degenerative brain disease was confirmed on Feb. 25, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency reported on its website.

• Monday, March 15th 2010 - 21:45 UTC

  Spanish ports handled 6 million cruise passengers in 2009, a 3% expansion

  

  Spanish ports reported growth in cruise passenger numbers last year, despite the impact of the economic downturn on the country’s tourism sector. The country’s state-owned ports handled just over 6 million passengers last year, a 3% increase over figures for 2008.

• Monday, March 15th 2010 - 21:36 UTC

  Gibraltar participates in leading Cruise convention in Miami

  

  The Port of Gibraltar is participating of the 26th edition of the Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention, which opened at the Miami Beach Convention Centre in Florida. The international exhibition and conference is recognised as the leading cruise industry event.

• Monday, March 15th 2010 - 20:07 UTC

  Controversy in UK over cuts in military training to save money

  

  A record 80 training exercises were cancelled last year By the UK Ministry of Defense while the number of British troops in Helmand reached 10,000.

• Monday, March 15th 2010 - 19:58 UTC

  Internet celebrates 25th anniversary of dotcom domain name

  

  It was not until the late 1990s that it really took off but today the internet celebrates the 25th birthday of the dotcom domain name. On 15 March 1985, the first company to add dotcom to its name was a computer maker named Symbolics.