Stories for October 2008

Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Heavy fine on BT for fixing MoD phone calls

BT has been forced to pay the UK Ministry of Defence £1.3m in compensation after some of its staff met call-answering targets by phoning each other. The Audit Commission found they fixed figures to help the company avoid fines for not answering calls quickly enough.
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
IMF announces 100 billion emergency fund; Argentina out

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is creating an emergency fund for emerging market economies to help them weather the global credit crisis. The Group of 24 developing countries, which includes nations from Latin America, Asia and Africa, had requested such a development earlier this month.
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Fed swap lines with Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore

The US Federal Reserve agreed on Wednesday to provide 30 billion US dollars each to the central banks of Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore, expanding its effort to unfreeze money markets to emerging nations for the first time.
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Paraguay promises protection to Brazilian land-holders

Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo said in Washington his administration guarantees the security of all Brazilian residents in the country, but also emphasized they must respect the Paraguayan legal system.
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Uruguay's ruling coalition dispute extends to the Senate

Uruguay's ruling coalition 2009 presidential candidate dispute has extended to the Senate where President Tabare Vazquez has been unable so far, to garner the sufficient votes to support the nomination of Central Bank members which is currently headless.
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Overseas Territories talks positive says Falklands councilor

“POSITIVE and constructive” was how Falklands councillor Mike Summers described talks held at the Overseas Territories Consultative Council (OTCC) this week.
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
UN instructs Uruguay blue helmets to defend Congolese city

United Nations ordered a contingent of 600 Uruguayan blue helmets to take over the defence of the Congolese city of Goma --and its airport--, devastated by combats between the Congolese Army and rebel forces under the command of Laurent Nkunda.
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
US economy shrinks 0.3%; crisis effects reaching jobs market

The United States economy shrank at an annualised rate of 0.3% between July and September, according to figures from the Commerce Department. GDP figures were better than expected, although they show the sharpest contraction of the economy since 2001.
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Brazil leaves rates unchanged in spite of inflation fears

Brazil's central bank left the basic SELIC rate unchanged for the first time in six months on Wednesday. The Copom monetary council led by Henrique Meirelles voted unanimously to keep the benchmark interest rate ”for the moment'' at a two-year high of 13.75%.
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Rise of methane gas in atmosphere puzzles scientists

The amount of methane in Earth's atmosphere shot up in 2007, bringing to an end a period of about a decade in which atmospheric levels of the potent greenhouse gas were essentially stable, according to a team led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers.