International

• Tuesday, January 15th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Environmentalists held on Japanese whaling vessel

  Two members of the conservation organization Sea Shepherd are being held on a Japanese whaling boat they boarded last night in Antarctic waters. According to the group the two men, a Briton and an Australian, boarded the Yushin Maru No. 2, to deliver a message that its whaling activities are illegal.

• Monday, January 14th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  WTO members narrow differences in agriculture talks

  

  The World Trade Organization's chief agriculture negotiator said that members have narrowed their differences and made “a lot of progress” in recent talks but more still needs to be done before an agreement is reached.

• Monday, January 14th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  World rice harvest and trading heading for a record year

  

  World rice production is projected at a record 421.2 million tons (milled basis) in 2007/08, up less than 1% from a year ago, while global rice trading is forecasted to reach 29.6 million tons, up 3%, according to the latest reports from the US Department of Agriculture.

• Monday, January 14th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Renegade spy who devoted life to expose CIA dies in Cuba

  

  Philip Agee, the former CIA operative who broke with the agency and devoted his life to exposing its role in political subversion, assassination, torture and support for military dictatorships, died January 7 in Cuba at the age of 72. Cuban sources said that he died of peritonitis after ulcer surgery.

• Monday, January 14th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Goldman Sachs predicts US recession and China slowdown

  

  Goldman Sachs Group Inc., one of the world's leading investment banking and investment management firms lowered its forecast for China's 2008 GDP growth to 10% from 10.3%, due to an expected 2008 recession in the U.S.

• Sunday, January 13th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Australians arrive in NZ by kayak after 62 days

  Two Australians have become the first people to paddle to New Zealand across the Tasman Sea in a kayak.

• Saturday, January 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Euro and UK keep rates on hold; stern bankers' message

  The European Central Bank and Bank of England, despite growing unease about inflation and slowing economic indicators, on Thursday kept their benchmark interest rates unchanged at 4% and 5.5% respectively.

• Saturday, January 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  China's trade surplus & reserves soar to record highs in 2007

  China's trade surplus soared 48% in 2007 to a record high 262.2 billion US dollars as its export-led economic boom continued government figures have shown.

• Saturday, January 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Nepal/NZ mourn loss of Mount Everest colossus conqueror

  

  Nepal, the country of Mount Everest, has been remembering Sir Edmund Hillary, the joint first conqueror of the summit. Sir Edmund died in his native New Zealand, aged 88, after a heart attack.

• Saturday, January 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Ulster farmer returns £ 5.900 cash in overpaid subsidies

  An anonymous Northern Ireland farmer has sent an envelope containing £5,900 of cash to the Department of Agriculture (DARD). The money was returned in an envelope because he or she felt they were overpaid in their subsidies, reports the BBC