International

• Wednesday, November 25th 2009 - 05:06 UTC

  Bank of England emergency loans at height of crisis peaked £ 61.6 billion

  

  Emergency loans to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HBOS peaked at £61.6 billion at the height of the financial crisis, the Bank of England has said. The Bank revealed for the first time the details of its Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) to both banks in a submission to the Treasury Select Committee.

• Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 13:12 UTC

  Argentina defends the right of the Palestine people to have a State

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner defended the right of the Palestinian State to “have its own frontiers” in a lunch shared with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, at the Government House.

• Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 13:11 UTC

  Baroness Thatcher returns to Downing Street

  

  Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher moved back into Downing Street, in the shape of a portrait by royal artist Richard Stone. Nicholas Glass reports. The unveiling had been delayed several times due to the ailing health of Baroness Thatcher, 84, who attended Monday the private reception.

• Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 13:03 UTC

  Family of de Menezes reaches compensation agreement with London police

  

  The family of Brazilian citizen Jean Charles de Menezes has agreed a compensation deal with the London Metropolitan Police. Relatives of the Brazilian have been locked in an often acrimonious legal battle with the force since he was shot dead at Stockwell Tube station on July 22, 2005.

• Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 12:57 UTC

  Boeing 747 flies an engine with 50% bio-kerosene mix

  

  A Boeing 747, one of four engines powered by a 50% bio-kerosene mix, circled the Netherlands for an hour on Monday for what airline KLM called the world's first passenger flight using bio-fuel.

• Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 12:45 UTC

  Deep sea abyss swamped with diversity of life and new species

  

  From a translucent giant octopus to a fish bearing barbed fangs, a team of international scientists say they have discovered hundreds of new species living in total darkness at least 5km beneath the surface of the world's oceans.

• Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 03:50 UTC

  Quotas for Atlantic blue fin tuna cut by one third to 13.500 tons

  

  The body responsible for managing Atlantic blue fin tuna has decided not to suspend the fishery in response to concerns over dwindling stocks. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (Iccat) instead decided to lower the annual catch quota by about one third.

• Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 03:41 UTC

  Spain prepares to announce radical reforms while “economy begins recovery”

  

  Spanish president Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said Monday that the country’s “economic recovery” has started and all indicates that the rhythm will accelerate.

• Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 02:43 UTC

  Brazilian opposition questions Iranian president’s visit

  

  The main leader of the Brazilian opposition Jose Serra criticized the government of President Lula da Silva for receiving Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and recalled that the Iranian Defence minister has been accused of the attack against the Argentine Jewish Mutual, AMIA, in 1994, in Buenos Aires.

• Monday, November 23rd 2009 - 11:22 UTC

  Iranain President begins controversial visit to Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela

  

  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected Monday in Brasilia as part of a five nation tour to Africa and South America to boost ties with Latinamerica's biggest economy and a rare backer of Tehran's right to develop a nuclear programme.