Because Economics is Sexy...

France has pledged 1bn euros (£0.9bn, $1.5bn) in compensation for farmers after the EU’s top grain producer saw its worst spring drought in 50 years.

Announcing the figure in parliament, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said it might change “because it depends on the requests of the farmers”.

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A Mexican convoy protesting violence triggered by a military crackdown on drug cartels has arrived in Ciudad Juarez, on the final leg of its 3,000-kilometer (1,860-mile) journey.

The peace caravan of about 20 buses, led by famed poet and journalist turned protest-organizer Javier Sicilia, reached Mexico’s most violent city late Thursday, greeted by mariachi players and hundreds of well-wishers.

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The ash cloud from a Chilean volcano reached Buenos Aires, the capital of neighboring Argentina, but was not expected to cause problems for area residents, officials said.

The ash cloud had already caused most airlines flying into Buenos Aires to cancel flights, but if favorable weather conditions persist, it will not pose a risk to people, said Jorge Echarran, head of the emergency council.

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It is time to start planning for what to do in Libya after leader Moammar Gadhafi’s departure “because Gadhafi’s reign of terror is coming to an end,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday.

Rasmussen, talking with reporters in Brussels, insisted that NATO bombing had saved lives in Libya.

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The European Commission today boosted its emergency cash package for Europe’s farmers in the wake of confusion over the E.coli outbreak.

Only a day after setting a cash aid ceiling of £135 million to compensate producers facing a sales slump and the enforced dumping of fresh goods in case of contamination, Brussels increased the sum to £187 million and backdated eligibility for payment to May 26.

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German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said the current aid package for Greece is “insufficient”, adding there is a “real risk” of default if funds are not released soon.

In a letter to European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund leaders dated 6 June, Mr Schaeuble said a new package was needed.

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Hospital staff in northern Germany are working overtime to treat the large number of patients infected with an aggressive form of E. coli that has left 22 people dead so far.

Clinics in Hamburg, Kiel and Luebeck are operating at the limit and have had to request extra help from medics in the south of the country.

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Three Bulgarian air crew members working for the United Nations in Sudan have been set free six months after they were kidnapped in Darfur.

The three men appeared to be in good health, according to the UN World Food Programme, which denied paying a ransom for their release.

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A police officer in Zimbabwe who has languished at a police detention barracks for a month for using a toilet reserved for President Robert Mugabe will learn his fate at end of this week following an appeal to his boss.

Alois Mabhunu, a homicide detective was sentenced last week to 10 days after he was convicted by an internal police court for responding to a call of nature in a toilet which had been reserved for Mugabe at a trade fair in Zimbabwe’s second biggest city.

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At least 60,000 protesters angered by cuts and tax rises packed into central Athens as Greek PM George Papandreou planned further austerity measures.

The crowd in Syntagma Square rallied outside parliament on Sunday night chanting “thieves!”

It was reckoned to be the biggest demo in 12 consecutive days of protests.

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