International

• Saturday, August 22nd 2009 - 11:34 UTC

  World Health officials urge to prepare for likely second wave of A/H1N1 virus flu

  

  World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan on Friday urged governments to prepare for a likely second wave of A/H1N1 flu cases. About 1,800 people have died since the flu virus was first uncovered in April, according to the latest update from the WHO issued this week.

• Saturday, August 22nd 2009 - 11:18 UTC

  Argentina “harshly condemns” Iranian ministerial nomination

  

  Argentina's Foreign Affairs Ministry “harshly condemns” the nomination of Ahmad Vahidi to serve as Iran's Defence Minister as he is a suspected international terrorist sought by Interpol in connection with the 1994 attack on AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires.

• Saturday, August 22nd 2009 - 11:15 UTC

  Markets react to Bernanke’s speech, but also warnings of over expectations

  

  World stock markets reacted positively after US central bank chief Ben Bernanke said the world's biggest economy was nearing the start of a recovery.
  “The prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good,” Mr Bernanke told a conference in Wyoming.

• Friday, August 21st 2009 - 13:59 UTC

  Canada reaffirms sovereignty in the Arctic region

  

  Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is on a five-day visit to the northern Arctic region of his country. Mr Harper said it was all part of an initiative to promote Canada's sovereignty in the far north.

• Friday, August 21st 2009 - 13:49 UTC

  Sensational Suarez hits four for Ayax

  

  22 year old Uruguayan international Luis Suarez hit FOUR magnificent goals as Ajax of Amsterdam beat Slovan Bratislava by 5-0 in a Europa Cup qualifying game in the Amsterdam Arena on wednesday night. Substitute Mitchell Donald scored the 5th in injury time.

• Friday, August 21st 2009 - 13:32 UTC

  Ink from fossilized squid 150 million years old found in Wiltshire

  

  Palaeontologists have drawn with ink extracted from a preserved fossilised squid uncovered during a dig in Trowbridge, Wiltshire.

• Friday, August 21st 2009 - 13:24 UTC

  Minutes show Bank of England divided on cash injection

  

  Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King wanted to pump more money into the UK economy this month but was outvoted by fellow policymakers. Minutes of the bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on 6 August reveal that Mr King wanted £75bn rather than the £50bn that was injected

• Friday, August 21st 2009 - 11:07 UTC

  Colombian president closer to re-re-election, but it’s not that simple

  

  Colombia’s Senate passed a bill late Wednesday that may pave the way for a national referendum on whether to allow President Alvaro Uribe to seek a third consecutive term in next year’s presidential election.

• Friday, August 21st 2009 - 11:00 UTC

  German surprise rebound confirmed by cautious Bundesbank

  

  German economic growth is likely to gain traction in the coming months, the nation's influential central bank, the Bundesbank, said Thursday after Europe's biggest economy unexpectedly climbed out of recession during the second quarter.

• Thursday, August 20th 2009 - 07:10 UTC

  Rio Tinto selling assets to trim debt burden

  

  Rio Tinto has agreed to sell four business units of its Alcan aluminium subsidiary for 2 billion US dollars as it seeks to trim its debt burden further. The Anglo-Australian mining giant is selling the four packaging businesses to Australian group Amcor.