Brazil’s Lula da Silva said that the G-20 group must address the issue of the “currencies war” in direct reference to the forced depreciation by some rich countries of their currencies which negatively affects the competitiveness of its trade partners, particularly in the developing world.
Chilean president Sebastian Piñera announced Wednesday in Paris a wide-ranging “strategic alliance” with France following a meeting with President Nicholas Sarkozy. Piñera arrived Tuesday from London and later in the week is scheduled to travel to Germany.
The TV licence fee, which funds Britain’s BBC, is to be frozen for six years at £145.50, the Chancellor has confirmed. The BBC will also take over the cost of the Foreign Office-funded World Service, BBC Monitoring and some of the costs of Welsh language TV channel S4C.
Chancellor George Osborne has unveiled the biggest UK spending cuts for decades, with welfare, councils and police budgets all hit. The pension age will rise sooner than expected, some incapacity benefits will be time limited and other money clawed back through changes to tax credits and housing benefit.
Argentina will soon declare wine “a national drink” given its growing quality production and long rooted consumption dating back to the time of the colony several centuries ago.
Pope Benedict put his stamp on the future of the Roman Catholic Church by naming 24 new cardinals, including 20 who are under 80 and thus eligible to enter a secret conclave to elect his successor.
The governments of Uruguay and Switzerland agreed a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) on October 18. The document was signed by the Uruguay’s Economy Minister, Fernando Lorenzo, and his Swiss counterpart, Hans-Rudolf Merz.
Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero named a new deputy premier and foreign minister Wednesday as part of a major cabinet reshuffle at a time when his ruling Socialists have been trailing conservatives fifteen points in polls.
We address this letter to political and business leaders and to the wider public. This year has seen outbreaks of extreme weather in many regions of the world. No-one can say with certainty that events such as the flooding in Pakistan, the unprecedented weather episodes in some parts of the US , the heat-wave and drought in Russia, or the floods and landslides in Northern China, were influenced by climate change. Yet they constitute a stark warning. Extreme weather events will grow in frequency and intensity as the world warms.
A Chilean legislative commission is investigating reports that mining operators ignored danger warnings from a man who was later among 33 later trapped when a mine collapsed.