Stories for October 19th 2011

Wednesday, October 19th 2011 - 23:17 UTC
Piñera looses support from business sector in the conflict over education reform

Following on the examples of their German, French and some US peers, Chilean business leaders have asked for an increase in taxes they pay to help finance social demands in spite of the strong opposition of President Sebastián Piñera administration.
Wednesday, October 19th 2011 - 23:12 UTC
Plan to tackle Euro debt crisis stalled; Sarkozy flies to Berlin to meet Merkel

Plans to tackle the Euro zone debt crisis have stalled with Paris and Berlin at odds over how to increase the firepower of the region's bailout fund, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday, October 19th 2011 - 23:07 UTC
Greeks have transferred to Swiss banks 200 billion Euros, claims German press

Greeks fearing the safety of their deposits in banks, as well as Greeks trying to evade paying taxes, have reportedly “bailed out” their money of the debt struck country into the safe haven of Swiss banks in a scale of 200 billion Euros.
Wednesday, October 19th 2011 - 21:16 UTC
BlackBerry outage sees traffic accidents plummet in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Police in Abu Dhabi and Dubai said the number of reported traffic accidents plunged during the recent three-day BlackBerry outage. In Dubai, traffic accidents fell 20% from average rates on the days BlackBerry users were unable to use its messaging service. In Abu Dhabi the drop was steeper, 40% and there were no fatal accidents.
Wednesday, October 19th 2011 - 21:06 UTC
Who’s the best player ever: Pelé, Maradona, Romario or Messi?

Former Barcelona (1993/95) striker Romario and 1994 World Cup champion came on stage to say that Argentine star Lionel Messi still has some way to go before he can call himself the best player ever.
Wednesday, October 19th 2011 - 20:51 UTC
What about “Life is short, have an affair” to sponsor a basketball team

Virtus Roma basketball team is in talks for a sponsorship deal with a website that helps unfaithful married people have an affair. Founder and president of www.ashleymadison.com Noel Biderman has been in talks with Roma president Claudio Toti for two days, something that has brought criticism from the Vatican.
Wednesday, October 19th 2011 - 16:51 UTC
EC report claims Argentina and Brazil are increasing trade barriers

Major trading nations led by Argentina, Brazil and Russia are raising barriers to international and threatening the global economic recovery, the European Union's executive arm said on Wednesday.
Wednesday, October 19th 2011 - 16:48 UTC
China’s economic expansion slowed down in third quarter; fears of Euro crisis impact

China's economic expansion slowed during the third quarter of the year as government measures to control inflation hurt growth. China's economy grew by 9.1% in the three months to the end of September from a year earlier, down from 9.5% in the previous quarter.
Wednesday, October 19th 2011 - 16:37 UTC
UK Consumer inflation in September was 5.2%, the highest since 2008

The rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation in the UK matched its record high in September, rising to 5.2% from 4.5% the month before. An increase in energy costs was behind a large proportion of the rise.
Wednesday, October 19th 2011 - 16:33 UTC
Great China (Beijing, HK, Singapore, Taiwan) reducing holdings of US debt

China has reduced its holdings of US debt to their lowest level in a year, after the US's credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor's (S&P). China sold 36.5bn dollars in US Treasuries or bonds to cut its holding to 1.137bn in August, latest data by the US Treasury Department showed.