Stories for 2009

Thursday, September 3rd 2009 - 10:30 UTC
Antarctica’s Ridge A, world’s coldest, driest, calmest place on Earth

The search for the best observatory site in the world has led to the discovery of what is thought to be the coldest, driest, calmest place on Earth, a place where no human is thought to have ever set foot. The finding was detailed on August 31 in the Publications of the Astronomical Society.
Thursday, September 3rd 2009 - 10:28 UTC
Poll shows Tory leader Cameron as next British PM with 96-seat majority

Britain’s main opposition Tories could be heading for a 96-seat Commons majority at the next general election, a poll has revealed. Conservative leader David Cameron currently has a 42% share of the vote, with Labour trailing on 28% and the Liberal Democrats on 17%, according to the YouGov survey for The Sun newspaper.
Thursday, September 3rd 2009 - 10:17 UTC
G20 meeting anticipates clash over government spending and banks

In anticipation of the G20 Finance ministers meeting in London on Friday UK Chancellor Alistair Darling insisted that world governments need to keep spending to ensure recovery from the global economic crisis.
Thursday, September 3rd 2009 - 10:10 UTC
EU hedge funds regulations threaten London’ position as global financial hub

EU plans to regulate hedge funds are a “blatant attack” on London's role as an international financial centre, the mayor of the city has said. Boris Johnson added that suspicions ministers in Paris and Berlin were using the proposals to deliberately target London were “not unfounded”.
Thursday, September 3rd 2009 - 10:08 UTC
US loss of jobs slowing but unemployment still above 9.5%

A report from a private researcher in United States established that August saw US employers cut the smallest number of jobs in nearly a year. ADP reports 298,000 non-government jobs were cut during August, which is considerably less than the prior month (360.000).
Thursday, September 3rd 2009 - 10:06 UTC
Fed pleased with latest data but US recovery is still fragile

Federal Reserve policymakers were increasingly pleased by signs of improvement in the US economy but added that the recovery is still fragile, according to the minutes of their most recent meeting.
Thursday, September 3rd 2009 - 07:10 UTC
China first to buy 50 billion USD in IMF bonds

China has agreed to buy the first International Monetary Fund bonds for about 50 billion dollars, the IMF said Wednesday. IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, Yi Gang, signed the agreement in Washington.
Thursday, September 3rd 2009 - 03:40 UTC
H1N1 virus out-competes seasonal flu but not likely to mix into “super-bug”

The new H1N1 virus appears to out-compete seasonal flu, making it less likely to mix with other circulating flu viruses into a “super-bug” as some had feared United States researchers said this week.
Thursday, September 3rd 2009 - 03:34 UTC
Strong lobbying from UK’s defence industry fearful of budget cuts

Budget cuts could damage Britain’s armed forces and investing in the defence industry could help lead Britain out of recession, leading figures from the UK’s armaments sector said this week.
Thursday, September 3rd 2009 - 03:26 UTC
BP announces giant deep oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico

British Petroleum announced Wednesday a giant oil discovery at its Tiber Prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The well, located in Keathley Canyon block 102, approximately 400 kilometres south east of Houston, is in 1,259 metres of water.