International

• Tuesday, October 13th 2009 - 04:10 UTC

  FAO: Food commodities prices forecasted to remain high and volatile

  

  Food commodities prices are likely to stay high and volatile in the medium term, while a repeat of the 2007-2008 price spikes is seen as a realistic possibility, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said on Monday. Between 2006 and 2008, international prices for basic food commodities shot up by 60% while grain prices doubled.

• Tuesday, October 13th 2009 - 04:06 UTC

  Freshwater ecosystems the most threatened

  

  Mismanagement and growing needs for water are causing freshwater ecosystems to collapse, making freshwater species the most threatened on Earth with extinction rates 4 to 6 times higher than their terrestrial and marine cousins, say scientists at the Diversitas 2nd Open Science Conference, in Cape Town, South Africa.

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 10:47 UTC

  General Motors record sales in China’s booming car market

  

  General Motors and affiliate companies in China sold almost 1.3 million cars in the first nine months of 2009, with September a record month, according to a release from the main offices in Detroit.

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 10:40 UTC

  Major missile systems upgrade for Type 23 frigate HMS Argyll

  

  The Royal Navy warship HMS Argyll is to have her missile system upgraded in a major £19m refit in Fife. The Type 23 frigate has just arrived in Rosyth, Scotland for a year-long overhaul by 120 Babcock staff who will provide her with new electronic guns.

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 07:58 UTC

  Gorbachev says the world was a safer place during the Cold War

  

  Mijail Gorbachev, the last leader of the defunct Soviet Union said that the “world was a safer place during the Cold War” and warned that the major current risk to the world is the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 07:47 UTC

  British government to sell assets to help balance public finances

  

  The British Government is to sell off £16 billion of assets as part of moves to restore stability to the public finances, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to announce. Details of an initial round of sales that could raise £3 billion - including the Tote, the Dartford crossing, the Channel Tunnel rail link, and the Student Loan book.

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 06:56 UTC

  African leader praised China’s way of making business and criticizes West

  

  Rwandan President Paul Kagame has praised the way China does business in Africa, criticising the West for basing relations with the continent on aid. Huge Chinese investment in African companies and infrastructure is helping Africa develop, Mr Kagame said.

• Monday, October 12th 2009 - 06:54 UTC

  Playboy magazine targets Simpons generation with Marge in the cover

  

  Simpsons matriarch Marge Simpson is gracing the cover of Playboy magazine, becoming the first cartoon character in the publication's history.

• Sunday, October 11th 2009 - 11:31 UTC

  Turkey-Armenia begin to repair 96 years of hatred and animosity

  

  With a handshake and applause they began to repair almost a century of hatred and animosity. This was a deal the international community wanted, and it was there to show its support as Turkey and Armenia stepped out of the past to build a new future.

• Friday, October 9th 2009 - 17:13 UTC

  United States with the status of the “world’s most admired country”

  

  Brand America is now ranked #1 by global citizens, according to the GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media, a division of GfK Custom Research North America. Results from the 2009 Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index (NBI), which measures the global image of 50 countries, show the United States taking the top spot as the country with the best overall brand, up from seventh last year.