Stories for October 19th 2011
Piñera looses support from business sector in the conflict over education reform
Following on the examples of their German, French and some US peers, Chilean business leaders have asked for an increase in taxes they pay to help finance social demands in spite of the strong opposition of President Sebastián Piñera administration.
Plan to tackle Euro debt crisis stalled; Sarkozy flies to Berlin to meet Merkel
Plans to tackle the Euro zone debt crisis have stalled with Paris and Berlin at odds over how to increase the firepower of the region's bailout fund, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday afternoon.
Greeks have transferred to Swiss banks 200 billion Euros, claims German press
Greeks fearing the safety of their deposits in banks, as well as Greeks trying to evade paying taxes, have reportedly “bailed out” their money of the debt struck country into the safe haven of Swiss banks in a scale of 200 billion Euros.
BlackBerry outage sees traffic accidents plummet in Abu Dhabi and Dubai
Police in Abu Dhabi and Dubai said the number of reported traffic accidents plunged during the recent three-day BlackBerry outage. In Dubai, traffic accidents fell 20% from average rates on the days BlackBerry users were unable to use its messaging service. In Abu Dhabi the drop was steeper, 40% and there were no fatal accidents.
Who’s the best player ever: Pelé, Maradona, Romario or Messi?
Former Barcelona (1993/95) striker Romario and 1994 World Cup champion came on stage to say that Argentine star Lionel Messi still has some way to go before he can call himself the best player ever.
What about “Life is short, have an affair” to sponsor a basketball team
Virtus Roma basketball team is in talks for a sponsorship deal with a website that helps unfaithful married people have an affair. Founder and president of www.ashleymadison.com Noel Biderman has been in talks with Roma president Claudio Toti for two days, something that has brought criticism from the Vatican.
EC report claims Argentina and Brazil are increasing trade barriers
Major trading nations led by Argentina, Brazil and Russia are raising barriers to international and threatening the global economic recovery, the European Union's executive arm said on Wednesday.
China’s economic expansion slowed down in third quarter; fears of Euro crisis impact
China's economic expansion slowed during the third quarter of the year as government measures to control inflation hurt growth. China's economy grew by 9.1% in the three months to the end of September from a year earlier, down from 9.5% in the previous quarter.
UK Consumer inflation in September was 5.2%, the highest since 2008
The rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation in the UK matched its record high in September, rising to 5.2% from 4.5% the month before. An increase in energy costs was behind a large proportion of the rise.
Great China (Beijing, HK, Singapore, Taiwan) reducing holdings of US debt
China has reduced its holdings of US debt to their lowest level in a year, after the US's credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor's (S&P). China sold 36.5bn dollars in US Treasuries or bonds to cut its holding to 1.137bn in August, latest data by the US Treasury Department showed.
