
The global oil market slump looks likely to continue, with prices possibly nearing 70 dollars a barrel in the short term, an official of Russian gas producer Gazprom said. Crude fell more than on dollar a barrel on Thursday to a four-year low below 83 a barrel as growing concerns over the global economy stretched a four-month rout.

A two day symposium entitled “Self-determination, devolution and independence in the 21st century” was opened on Thursday by Gibraltar's Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia at the Garrison Library in the Rock.

Venezuela celebrated on Thursday as a great diplomatic success and a victory of Hugo Chavez, having been voted by the UN General Assembly to join the Security Council for two years as a non permanent member.

In three rounds of voting on Thursday the United Nations General Assembly elected Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela to serve as non-permanent members on the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2015.

Venezuela will almost certainly default on its foreign debt, according to Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. They add that the beleaguered Latin American economy has already defaulted on every conceivable kind of domestic debt.

Running a multi-billion dollar energy company isn't easy. Just ask the executives in the corner suites of some of the energy companies that have gone bust over the years. Some, like Enron, were brought down because of insider malfeasance.

A numerous Argentine delegation will be attending this week trade and investment conferences in New Delhi as part of the country's efforts to increase exports to the growing Indian market and attract investors.

Conservative Roman Catholic prelates have vowed to change a controversial Vatican document that held out the possibility of a major shift in the Church's attitude towards homosexuals.

Citigroup said on Tuesday that it will bow out of the retail banking business in 11 markets, part of its ongoing effort since the financial crisis to restructure and slim down. The news came as the bank announced third-quarter earnings.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday rejected calls for Berlin to ditch its plans for a balanced budget next year and to instead invest more in order to shore up the faltering German and Euro zone economies. On Tuesday Germany slashed its 2014 growth forecast from 1.8% to 1.2%.