Spain’s Amancio Ortega, the co-founder and former chairman of retail giant Inditex, is splashing out on a 1 acre “island site” on London’s Oxford Street for around £220m according to Property Week.
Ukraine’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, has paid the highest price for a UK residence, buying an apartment in the One Hyde Park development in Knightsbridge. Land Registry documents show that two properties on the seventh and eighth floor of the luxury development have been bought by a single buyer, the total consideration amounting to £136.4m.
UK's military operation in Iraq will officially end midnight Sunday, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. It comes after the Royal Navy completed its training of Iraqi sailors, with the last personnel leaving the country on Friday.
The Latin America Catholic Church Episcopal Council, Celam, sent a strong message to the political establishment saying it is painful to see so many people victims of the narcotics trade and so many young people disenchanted with institutions because of corruption. Celam held its XXXIII two-day Ordinary Assembly in Montevideo.
Greece’s credit rating was cut on Friday three levels by Fitch Ratings, which said that even a voluntary extension of its bond maturities being studied by EU policy makers would be considered a default.
Italy’s Treasury said it will “intensify” structural changes in the economy and push ahead with measures to balance the budget by 2014 after Standard & Poor’s said its debt rating is at risk of a downgrade.
British Foreign Minister William Hague raised the UK’s concerns over Spanish incursions into Gibraltar waters during a meeting with his Spanish counterpart last February, according to a response to a question in the House of Lords.
European leaders raced Saturday to nominate a successor for fallen IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn before a G8 summit in France next week, with French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde in pole position.
India will be launching negotiations for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) with Mercosur although it will first “expedite” talks for a preferential trade agreement with the South African Customs Union (SACU).
The International Monetary Fund said on Friday that it is scheduled to complete the process of selecting a new managing director by June 30.