The Bank of England has hinted that it is likely that interest rates will need to be increased once more to keep inflation in check, although analysts do not expect any rise to be imminent.
The Bank's latest inflation report forecasts that consumer price inflation would continue to exceed the 2% target if rates stayed at 5.25%.
Stock markets in New York and most of Latinamerica set new record gains on Wednesday following US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke statements that the US economy should grow modestly in 2007 despite a slowdown in housing.
The historic pact of Latin America and the Caribbean States to maintain a nuclear-weapon-free zone, the first-ever of its kind, has withstood the test of time and should spur greater efforts to rid the world of these arms, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday in honoring the 40th anniversary of the landmark agreement.
United States and Britain ranked at the bottom of a U.N. survey of child welfare in 21 wealthy countries that assessed everything from infant mortality to whether children ate dinner with their parents or were bullied at school.
In the wake of an appeal by the President of Bolivia for international assistance, United Nations agencies are stepping up aid to people in the country devastated by flooding, hail and freeze which have affected 200,000 and killed more than 20.
Chile's flag carrier LAN Airlines announced on Wednesday net profits of 241 million US dollars in 2006, up 64.4% over the 147 million US dollars of 2005.
Japanese whaling ship has caught fire near Antarctica, leaving one crew member missing and raising fears of environmental damage.
The cost of producing oil and gas has risen about 53 percent in the past two years, and the trend is expected to continue this year, according to a report released yesterday.
According to London-based Clarkson, the world's biggest shipbroker, shipowners ordered new vessels worth a record US$105.5 billion in 2006. The trend has been spurred by tanker owners keen to upgrade their fleets ahead of IMO single-hull tanker deadlines that kick in at the end of the decade, according to an article published by Gulf News.
Ecuador's Congress backed Tuesday a call by President Rafael Correa for a referendum on a national assembly that would then rewrite the country's constitution.