The global financial crisis is likely to leave long-lasting scars on the world economy, but governments can act to stimulate a quicker revival and counter output losses, according to a new IMF study.
US president Barack Obama has led the way as world leaders and industry chiefs seek to build momentum for a new international deal on climate change. Mr Obama told a United Nations summit on greenhouse gas emissions that the US was determined to act on global warming.
The ban on smoking in public places, such as bars and restaurants, has been one of the greatest public health debates of the early 21st century. Now, two large studies suggest that communities that pass laws to curb secondhand smoke get a big payoff -- a drop in heart attacks.
China will get the biggest increase in voting power at the IMF (*) when the global lender completes a long-awaited restructuring in 2011, the head of the IMF said Tuesday. In an interview with Reuters, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said European nations, which have resisted a dilution of their global economic clout in the IMF, increasingly recognized it was time for change.
World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy said Tuesday that he was still cautious about the outlook of the Doha Round of global trade negotiations despite a detailed work program drawn up by senior officials last week. He also called for leadership and responsibility from G-20 leaders meeting this week in Pittsburgh.
Moody's Investors Service raised Brazil's sovereign debt ratings to investment grade on Tuesday and underlined the resilience of Latinamerica's largest economy to the global financial crisis.
China has appealed a World Trade Organisation (WTO) decision against its restrictions on the import of US DVDs and other media products. The WTO settlement had said China was breaching international trade rules by blocking foreign-owned firms from being importers and wholesalers.
A United Nations report released last week said that industrial and energy projects set in motion before the official adoption of Chile’s “Convention 169” in September should still compensate indigenous communities for current and future effects caused by their projects.
Brazilian Cabinet Chief Dilma Rousseff, President Lula da Silva’s likely choice to replace him, fell to third place in a survey of voter preferences ahead of 2010 presidential elections.
Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista said he may be interested in acquiring a stake in the world’s biggest iron-ore producer Vale do Rio Doce, after one of the company’s shareholders said he showed “interest” in buying its stock.