International

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 23:33 UTC

  FAO admits illegal fishing remains major threat; calls for a global record of fishing vessels

  

  Countries are making progress in implementing the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, which is now 15 years old, but still extremely relevant. However, additional efforts are needed, declared participants at the close of the 29th session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries.

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 23:24 UTC

  Bank of England at a crossroad leaves interest rates on hold at 0.5%

  

  Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept UK interest rates on hold at 0.5%, and unveiled no new quantitative easing (QE) measures.

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 23:06 UTC

  Japan’s public debt and fiscal deficit “unsustainable” warns IMF

  

  The weight of Japan's public debt, the highest in the world, is unsustainable in the medium and long term warned this week Naoyuki Shinohara, Deputy Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund.

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 22:59 UTC

  Another green revolution in the making with the “Green Super Rice”

  

  The world appears to be on the threshold of another green revolution in rice production as a result of an intensive, 12-year partnership between the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing and the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 06:55 UTC

  WikiLeaks: US believes former Chilean leader death “to remain a mystery”

  

  An embassy cable published this week by WikiLeaks revealed a 2009 email in which then-U.S ambassador to Chile, Paul Simons, predicted that former President Eduardo Frei Montalva’s controversial 1982 death would never be fully understood. “The tragic recent history of Chile continues to divide its people, and the death of this emblematic President seems destined to remain a mystery.”

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 06:22 UTC

  NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse announce merger proposal

  

  Two of world's leading exchanges, Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext, are in advanced talks about a merger. The deal would create the world's biggest stock exchange firm by revenue and profits and would be jointly based in New York and Frankfurt.

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 05:55 UTC

  London and Toronto tie-up plan to create world’s largest mining and energy stock market

  

  The London Stock Exchange is to buy Canada's TMX to claw back lost market share and create the world's fourth-largest bourse trading 4.1 trillion US dollars of stock a year.

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 01:06 UTC

  Hong Kong residential property the “most expensive in the world”

  

  The Global Cities Survey, published by Savills PLC, reported last week that Hong Kong residential property is now the most expensive in the world. Based on the property price index contained in the survey, residential property in Hong Kong is 55% more expensive than property in London.

• Wednesday, February 9th 2011 - 06:39 UTC

  Egypt discovers a cyber hero for its anti Mubarak revolution

  

  In Wael Ghonim, Egypt's anti-Mubarak street movement finally found a hero to rally around after a period of leaderless protest. The Egyptian-born Google marketing executive first played a role in organising the opposition through Facebook, only to disappear into police custody for 12 days.

• Tuesday, February 8th 2011 - 23:58 UTC

  Falklands’ war carrier HMS Invincible towed to a Turkish scrap-yard

  

  The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Invincible which had a leading role in the recovery of the Falkland Islands in 1982 has been sold to a Turkish scrap-yard which specialises in recycling ships.