Stories for April 29th 2009
HMS Illustrious at Centenary celebration of Naval Aviation
HMS Illustrious, which played a role in the aftermath of the 1982 Falklands War, is to visit London to mark the Centenary Year of Naval Aviation next week. On May 7 1909 the Admiralty first set aside £35,000 for the development of an airship - the process that led to the formation of the Fleet Air Arm.
Lamy expected to be re-elected for another five years as head of WTO
The World Trade Organization's 153 members were set Thursday to approve another four-year term for Director-General Pascal Lamy, who is running unopposed for the top job
Over 100 applicants for US Treasury plan to purchase toxic assets
The United States Treasury Department revealed on Wednesday that over 100 applications have been received from firms seeking to manage the government program to help purchase toxic securities from banks. The US government is relying on private investors to purchase poorly performing real estate investments currently weighing on bank balance sheets.
US economy contracts 6.1% in first quarter of 2009; exports plunge
The US economy continued to contract in the first quarter of 2009, led by the biggest fall in exports for 40 years. US GDP contracted at an annualised rate of 6.1% during the quarter, little improvement on the 6.3% fall in the last three months of 2008.
Fed sees recession easing and reiterates expansion of money supply
The US Federal Reserve has kept interest rates on hold at its current range of between zero and 0.25% and has suggested the recession may be easing. It also said it would continue with its “quantitative” current approach of purchasing long-term government debt to expand money supply.
Mexico’s Swine Flu and the Globalization of Disease
Mexico has long been considered the laboratory of globalization. Now a potentially deadly virus has germinated in that laboratory, finding ideal conditions to move quickly along a path toward global pandemic.
Chile purchases 18 second hand F16 fighter planes from Holland
Chile purchased another batch of 18 refurbished F-16 fighter jets from Holland to strengthen and renovate the material and equipment of the country’s Air Force, informed Defence minister Francisco Vidal late Tuesday in Santiago. The operation involves 270 million US dollars.
History Channel to screen film on Falklands’ war air battles
The History Channel will be screening next June a film on the Falkland Islands war and the fire baptism of the Argentine Air Force, it was announced this week in Buenos Aires.
Massive Antarctic ice shelf breaking up into icebergs
A massive Antarctic ice shelf is breaking up and pieces are expected to float away as icebergs over the course of the next few weeks. Scientists estimate the Wilkins Ice Shelf, which was originally about the size of Northern Ireland, had been in place for several hundred years. But satellite images taken over the past week show it has begun collapsing into the ocean as more than half a dozen similar Antarctic ice shelves have already done, said an article posted Tuesday by the European Space Agency on its website.
Swine flu continues to weight on global shares
Global shares have fallen further in Tuesday trading as the swine flu outbreak continues to weigh on markets. The UK's FTSE 100 finished the day 1.7% lower, while markets in Paris and Frankfurt ended almost 2% down. In the US, Wall Street also saw losses.
