Economy

Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 20:18 UTC
Summers pulls out of the race to succeed Bernanke at the Federal Reserve

Lawrence “Larry” Summers, the former Treasury Secretary who served Presidents Clinton and Obama, called President Barack Obama on Sunday to say he is pulling out of the race to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 19:18 UTC
RFA Wave Knight in major seizure of drugs in the Caribbean

Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ship Wave Knight has helped seize an estimated £6.5 million worth of drugs from traffickers in the Caribbean. In a multi-agency operation involving UK and US assets, the fishing vessel Miss Tiffany was detected and one of Wave Knight’s boats was launched to investigate.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 19:15 UTC
Latam’s cash transfer programs have proven more effective in combating poverty

Latin America’s cash transfer programs are a more effective weapon against poverty and social inequality than economic growth alone, according to a study by two local economists.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 18:11 UTC
Merkel coalition leads a week ahead of national elections in Germany

The opposition Social Democrats has gained slightly in the last pre-election opinion poll by German public broadcaster ARD. Their candidate, Peer Steinbrück has raised some eyebrows by raising one of his own digits in a weekly newspaper supplement.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 18:10 UTC
China in ‘crucial’ restructuring stage, ‘much needed to sustain economic growth’

China's economy is going through a “crucial” stage of restructuring, says the country's Premier, Li Keqiang. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in the Chinese port city of Dalian, Mr Li pledged to improve relations with foreign firms.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 18:03 UTC
Spain’s public debt hits a record high in June equal to 92.2% of GDP

Spain's public debt reached a record high in June, the country's central bank said. The figure has risen to 942.8bn Euros, equal to 92.2% of the country's entire economic output, the bank said. This is nearly 15% higher than the same period last year and above the Spanish government's target limit of 91.4%, despite severe public spending cuts.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 18:01 UTC
Twitter has decided to go public; private investors estimates: over 10bn dollars

Twitter has decided to go public. The company aptly announced on its short messaging service Friday afternoon that it has filed documents for an initial public offering of stock. San Francisco based Twitter Inc. posted on its official Twitter account that it has “confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO.”
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 17:59 UTC
Rajoy offers talks to Catalonia but no indication of an independence vote

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy offered to hold talks with Catalonia, but gave no indication he would allow the wealthy north-western region to vote on independence. The offer of talks was made in a letter sent to the head of Catalonia's regional government, Artur Mas, only three days after hundreds of thousands of Catalans formed a 400-km human chain to push their independence bid and demand a referendum.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 17:57 UTC
Barroso said Spain denied queues at the Gibraltar border were ‘on purpose’

The President of the European Commission said this week that Europe “would not hesitate to act” if it found evidence that Spanish border checks in the Gibraltar border breached EU rules on freedom of movement.
Sunday, September 15th 2013 - 17:54 UTC
UK confirms plans to privatize the iconic postal service: tough battle ahead

Britain’s coalition government has confirmed plans to privatize the country’s iconic 497-year-old state-owned postal service, Royal Mail, a move fiercely opposed by postal unions who have already suggested they will hold rolling strikes over the sell-off. The sale would be one of the most significant privatizations in Britain since the 1990s.