The number of unemployed people in Spain in October reached a 12-year high of 11.3%, according to the Labour Ministry, the highest level in Europe.
Lower prices for food and beverage were not enough to impede Uruguay's October consumer price index from increasing 0.33% pushed by a stronger US dollar and weaker local currency.
The Bank of England slashed interest rates to a 53-year low in a dramatic attempt to rescue the UK economy from deep recession. The 1.5 percentage points cut by the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Thursday is the biggest single move since March 1981 and brings rates to levels not seen since 1955.
The European Central Bank cut interest rates by 50 basis points to 3.25% on Thursday and signalled another reduction was possible next month, as inflation pressures ease and the Euro zone faces its first recession.
The International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook (WEO) says prospects for global growth have deteriorated over the past month and will slow from 5% in 2007 to 3.75% this year and just over 2% in 2009.
A United Nations report released Tuesday shows that international seaborne trade surged to record levels last year but has since declined because of the financial crisis, jeopardizing the health of many developing countries, especially those that depend on commodities.
China and Taiwan signed this week landmark agreements to improve direct trade and transport links, following the highest-level Chinese visit in decades. The agreements are set to triple the number of weekly direct passenger flights and allow cargo shipments between ports in China and Taiwan. They also aim to improve the postal service and food safety.
A unique fungus that makes diesel compounds directly from cellulose has been discovered living in trees in the Patagonian rainforest. These are the first organisms that have been found that make many of the ingredients of diesel, said Professor Gary Strobel from Montana State University. This is a major discovery.
Uruguay has resumed live animal sales to Egypt with a first shipment of 12.000 cattle and 40.000 sheep in late October. Egypt for years was an important client of Uruguayan beef and live animals but for several years the market had remained closed.
Marks & Spencer's half-year profits have fallen by a third after sales suffered in the toughest conditions to hit the retailer since the early 1990s.