International

• Thursday, December 1st 2011 - 06:02 UTC

  Brazil has the highest real interest rate among 40 leading economies

  

  The Brazilian Central bank latest decision to lower the basic interest rate by half a percentage point to 11%, confirms Brazil leadership as the country with the highest real interest rates in the world. An honour it has held interruptedly for the last 23 months.

• Thursday, December 1st 2011 - 05:57 UTC

  Meryl Streep portraying ‘The Iron Lady’ named best actress by NY Film Critics Circle

  

  Meryl Streep has been named best actress for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in upcoming film The Iron Lady by the New York Film Critics Circle.

• Thursday, December 1st 2011 - 05:53 UTC

  US and EU stock soar following on central banks’ decision to provide dollars

  

  Global stocks and the Euro rallied on Wednesday after the world's leading central banks agreed to cut the cost for European banks to borrow much-needed dollars.

• Thursday, December 1st 2011 - 05:49 UTC

  Corruption continues to plague too many countries, says Transparency

  

  Corruption continues to plague too many countries around the world, according to Transparency International’s 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index released Wednesday. It shows some governments failing to protect citizens from corruption, be it abuse of public resources, bribery or secretive decision-making.

• Thursday, December 1st 2011 - 04:19 UTC

  Emirates Airlines inaugurates Dubai-Buenos Aires daily flights 3 January

  

  Emirates Airlines will fly on a daily basis between Dubai and Buenos Aires, with a call at Rio do Janeiro, as of next January 3, it was announced in the Argentine capital by Richard Vaughan Senior Vice-president for Commercial Operations.

• Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 21:21 UTC

  Tens of visitors evacuated when HMS Belfast gangway in London collapsed

  

  Nearly 170 visitors were evacuated Wednesday from the HMS Belfast after the gangway leading to the tourist attraction collapsed. AOL (UK) reports that London Metropolitan police have said that two men were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

• Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 20:47 UTC

  UK promises more support for the Overseas Territories biodiversity strategy

  

  Overseas Territories Minister Henry Bellingham met representatives of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds on Wednesday, and received a pledge signed by almost 17,000 of their members, asking the UK Government to ensure that the valuable biodiversity of the Overseas Territories is preserved.

• Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 20:27 UTC

  UK and Norway reaffirm commitment to polar and Southern Ocean cooperation

  

  The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, and Norwegian Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre underlined on Wednesday their commitment to enhance UK/Norwegian cooperation in the Polar Regions.

• Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 16:04 UTC

  China changes policy: eases credit and lowers bank reserves ratio

  

  China's central bank cut the reserve requirement ratio for its commercial lenders on Wednesday for the first time in nearly three years to ease credit strains and shore up an economy running at its weakest pace since 2009.

• Wednesday, November 30th 2011 - 12:48 UTC

  At Durban, we need to rethink the next steps to tackling climate change

  

  The main aim of the UN climate summit at Durban, which began on November 28 and finishes on December 9, is to produce an agreement about targets for emissions by developed countries, and longer term targets from developing countries.