Brazil has extended tax breaks on energy-efficient home appliances for three months in a bid to boost consumption and consolidate a rebound in Latinamerica's largest economy. The announcement was made last week by Finance Minister Guido Mantega and becomes effective this month.
Europe has successfully launched a new satellite to unravel the mysteries of Earth's water cycle, shedding new light on how moisture is absorbed into the atmosphere and the process's link to climate change.
Lloyds Banking Group is prepared to pay a fee of close to £2.5 billion to steer clear of the Government Asset Protection Scheme (GAPS), according to BBC sources. Lloyds believes it can survive without the GAPS and does not want the additional government influence which comes with the scheme.
An oil well at the centre of a massive spill in the Timor Sea off the North West coast of Australia is on fire. The company which runs the well, PTTEP Australasia, said the fire broke out as it made another attempt to plug a leak deep underwater at the West Atlas rig.
United States secretary of Labour and a former Chilean president were named Sunday to a commission tasked with monitoring the creation of a power-sharing government in Honduras, under a US-brokered agreement to end the Central American nation's four-month-old political crisis.
China’s Purchasing Managers Index, a gauge of the country’s manufacturing activities, rose at the fastest pace in 18 months in October when it expanded to 55.2, up from 54.3 in September, the China Federation of Logistic and Purchasing said this week.
A divided Bank of Japan began withdrawing from credit markets on Friday and said it would scrap all key funding support programmes by March, resisting government pressure to support corporate borrowing until the economy strengthens.