International

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 01:02 UTC

  USDA predicts largest global glut of wheat since 2002

  

  The world will have so much wheat this year that the US farmers could leave every acre unplanted and still have a surplus, a sign of more losses after futures had their worst first quarter in 15 years.

• Tuesday, April 13th 2010 - 00:17 UTC

  China reports first trade deficit in 6 years and drastic drop in bank lending

  

  China reported a rare monthly trade deficit for the first time since May 2004. China’s foreign trade was up nearly 43% in March to over 231 billion USD, out of which exports accounted for about 112.1 billion and imports about 119.4 billion.

• Monday, April 12th 2010 - 05:23 UTC

  Market test for Greece’s Euro zone and IMF 51 billion USD “soft” loan aid

  

  European finance officials agreed Sunday to make an estimated 41 billion US dollars in loans available to Greece to help fight the threat of default. The loans would be charged at below-market rates to enable Athens to keep its borrowing costs down as it struggles to raise money to finance its runaway public debt.

• Monday, April 12th 2010 - 05:07 UTC

  Gibraltar’s air link with Madrid ceases as Spanish airline goes bankrupt

  

  The bumpy journey of the Spanish airline Andalus Líneas Aéreas has come to an abrupt end following on the week end’s confirmation that the Madrid-Gibraltar air link had been indefinitely suspended, according to an article from the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Saturday, April 10th 2010 - 05:05 UTC

  Rio Tinto joins competitors; agrees to three months iron ore contracts

  

  Rio Tinto has followed rival mining firms and says it is negotiating new iron ore supply contracts priced for three months rather than a year. The move ends years of tradition and is seen as a demonstration of the power the miners have over their customers.

• Saturday, April 10th 2010 - 04:58 UTC

  South Korea confirms several cases of foot and mouth disease

  

  South Korea's Agriculture ministry said Saturday that it has confirmed two more foot-and-mouth outbreaks on Ganghwa Island, 58 kilometres west of Seoul.

• Saturday, April 10th 2010 - 04:44 UTC

  Argentina announces debt-swap and invites US corporations to invest

  

  Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, CFK, speaking before the United States Chamber of Commerce confirmed that the debt-swap is to be launched between Wednesday and Thursday of next week and strongly praised Argentina’s conditions “for making business and investing”.

• Saturday, April 10th 2010 - 04:40 UTC

  Default “not an issue” for Greece, says ECB’s Trichet, but are markets convinced

  

  Greek bonds and banking stocks took a massive hit on Thursday, driving the debt-stricken Euro zone member's borrowing costs to the highest level since Greece adopted the Euro currency.

• Friday, April 9th 2010 - 02:51 UTC

  China enthusiastic about reaching agreement over Argentine soybean oil

  

  Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister, Li Jinzhang, assured that China is “highly enthusiastic” about reaching an agreement to unlock the trade soybean oil conflict between Argentina and the Asian giant, according to Chinese media.

• Friday, April 9th 2010 - 02:49 UTC

  Gibraltar and Foreign Office disagree on waters’ “sovereignty” or “control”

  

  Britain and Gibraltar will use different legal arguments in challenging the European Commission’s decision to twice approve a Spanish nature site with British Gibraltar waters. While Gibraltar is focusing on British sovereignty of the waters, Britain itself has centred its case on the issue of control, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.