International

Friday, April 18th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
March global surface temperature among highest on record

The global surface (land and ocean surface) temperature was the second warmest on record for March in the 129-year record, 0.71Â° C above the 20th century mean of 12.7Â° C. The warmest March on record, 1.33Â° C occurred in 2002.
Thursday, April 17th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
China becomes world's second exporter ahead of US

China overtook United States as the world's second exporter of goods in 2007, while Germany remains top of the ranking according to the latest data from the World Trade Organization, WYO.
Tuesday, April 15th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Scientists call for radical changes in food production

A United Nations-backed group of over 400 scientists are calling for a radical change to the way the world grows food to better serve the poor and hungry and to protect the planet's resources.
Tuesday, April 15th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Chinese investment fund purchases 1% of BP for a billion £

China has spent a billion pounds buying a 1% stake in BP, the UK's largest company by market value. The investment was made by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, a unit of the Central Bank managing 1.6 trillion US dollars in foreign exchange reserves.
Monday, April 14th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Protestors win half victory over Japanese whaling fleet

Japan blamed the failure of its whaling fleet to net little more than half its target catch this year to “relentless interference” from environmentalists and described the situation as “regrettable”.
Monday, April 14th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Massive production of bio-fuels: “crime against humanity”

Massive production of bio-fuels is “a crime against humanity” because of its impact on global food prices, said on Monday United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler.
Sunday, April 13th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
G7 ministers target financial sector and credit rating agencies

The G7 group of most industrialized nations, meeting in Washington, approved a plan Saturday aimed at easing the continuing crisis in the global credit markets.

Including calls for more oversight of financial firms and greater financial transparency, G7 members have committed themselves to its implementation
Sunday, April 13th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Bankers acknowledge “weakness in business practices”

The credit crisis is still sending shockwaves around the world and leading banks have now accepted much of the blame for the current turbulence in the financial markets. At a meeting of the Institute of International Finance in Frankfurt, senior bankers acknowledged that “weaknesses in business practices”, including bankers' pay and the management of risk, may have contributed to the crisis, reports the BBC.
Sunday, April 13th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Sub Antarctic seabed

An earthquake magnitude 7.1 struck Saturday in the vicinity of Macquarie Island, which lies about halfway between Australia and Antarctica and 2.000 kilometers south from the New Zealand capital Wellington, said the US Geological Survey.
Sunday, April 13th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Zoellick warns food prices will push millions to poverty

The rapid rise in food prices could push 100m people in poor countries deeper into poverty, the head of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, has said.

His warning follows that from the leader of the International Monetary Fund, who said hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of starvation.