Stories for 2008

Monday, November 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Prince Charles: rich countries should pay annual “utility bill”

Britain's Prince Charles has called for rich countries to pay an annual “utility bill” for the benefits given to the world by its rainforests. Speaking in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, the prince called rainforests the “world's greatest public utility”. They act as an air conditioner, store fresh water and provide work, he said.
Monday, November 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
EU in recession: 0.1% growth in 09 and 0.9% in 2010

European Union finance ministers on Monday opened in Brussels two days of talks aimed at coordinating proposals for a new global financial order while prospects for the EU real economy continued to deteriorate.
Monday, November 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
IMF says China remains “robust” but '09 is “difficult year”

China's economy will slow but should remain relatively strong and help to support the rest of Asia, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday, predicting a very difficult year for the global economy in 2009.
Sunday, November 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Chavez: Biz related to scandal may be expropriated

President Hugo Chavez on Saturday threatened to expropriate a major Venezuelan company because of its owners' ties to a scandal involving the seizure of a suitcase stuffed with $800,000 in cash.
Sunday, November 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Bolivian president suspends US anti-drug efforts

Bolivian President Evo Morales yesterday suspended operations by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, an agency he has accused of spying and helping to destabilize his government.
Sunday, November 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Palin takes prank call from fake French president

Sarah Palin unwittingly took a prank call Saturday from a Canadian comedian posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy and telling her she would make a good president someday. “Maybe in eight years,” replies a laughing Palin.
Sunday, November 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Argentina abstains from joint naval exercises with Chile

For the second year running the Argentine Congress denied authorization for Navy personnel and units to leave the country to participate in the joint Viekaren exercises with the Chilean Navy in the southern seas, which have been held regularly since 1999.
Sunday, November 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Archaeologists find evidence of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe

Archaeologists uncovered what they think is evidence of the campsite of a ship-wrecked sailor said to be the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. The archaeologists' findings were published in the journal Post-Medieval Archaeology.
Sunday, November 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
US regulators seize 17th bank of 2008; 117 with “problem”

Freedom Bank of Bradeton, Florida, in the United States became the 17th US bank to be seized by regulators in 2008, as the heaviest housing slump since the days of the “Great Depression” of the 1930 continues to trigger heaving losses.
Sunday, November 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC
For delaying new oil contract, Repsol is ousted from Ecuador

Ecuador has told Spanish-Argentine oil company Repsol YPF to leave the country after having refused to accept a government demand to change the contract which enables it to extract 60.000 bpd.