International

• Friday, November 11th 2011 - 07:53 UTC

  Merkel denies smaller Euro Project but her party, CDU, congress could hold surprises

  

  German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected Thursday the idea that her government might favor a smaller Euro zone, saying her only goal since the beginning of the debt crisis has been to stabilise the bloc in its current form.

• Thursday, November 10th 2011 - 08:17 UTC

  Euro crisis: IMF chief warns of a “lost decade”; China calls for strong political will

  

  The head of the IMF warned on Wednesday that Europe's debt crisis risked plunging the global economy into a “lost decade” and said it was up to rich nations to shoulder the burden of restoring growth and confidence.

• Thursday, November 10th 2011 - 07:43 UTC

  Chinese leading bank planning to expand business in Argentina

  

  China Industrial and Commercial Bank Ltd. plans to invest 100 million dollars in Standard Bank Argentina once it receives regulatory approval to buy a majority stake in the company, according to Argentine financial sources.

• Thursday, November 10th 2011 - 07:36 UTC

  Obama/CFK meeting “warm” but Argentina must pay its debts

  

  The US referred to last week’s meeting between Barack Obama and President Cristina Fernández as “warm,” but once again “encouraged” Argentina to pay off the debt it holds with US bondholders and companies.

• Thursday, November 10th 2011 - 06:14 UTC

  Uruguay claims Brazilian support in “fiscal haven” controversy with Sarkozy

  

  A top Uruguayan official said the country has the support of Brazil regarding the controversy triggered when President Nicholas Sarkozy as host and ‘rapporteur’ of the recent G20 summit named Uruguay in the list of the world’s most notorious fiscal havens.

• Thursday, November 10th 2011 - 06:11 UTC

  Euro crisis: Brazil says capital flight from emerging economies has started

  

  Members from the Brazilian and Uruguayan governments have warned about the increase of capital flight from emerging countries as the Euro crisis lags in search of a strong decision.

• Thursday, November 10th 2011 - 05:59 UTC

  Italy at the point where Greece, Ireland and Portugal cracked; global markets on the edge

  

  Stock markets in Asia opened sharply lower on Thursday after Italy's record-high cost of borrowing renewed fears over the Euro-zone crisis. Japan's Nikkei index fell 2.3%, Australia's ASX was down 2.8% while South Korea's Kospi opened 2.6% lower.

• Thursday, November 10th 2011 - 05:56 UTC

  China inflation cools in October; housing transactions down 25% from September

  

  China's inflation cooled in October, home sales fell and industrial output grew at the slowest pace in a year, adding pressure for measures to support growth in the world's second-biggest economy.

• Wednesday, November 9th 2011 - 06:22 UTC

  Lloyds reports £ 3.9bn loss in nine months; blames cost of settling PPI claims

  

  Lloyds Banking Group has reported a £3.9bn (6.3bn) loss for the first nine months of 2011, mainly due to the cost of settling claims for mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI).

• Wednesday, November 9th 2011 - 06:16 UTC

  Berlusconi stepping down; technocrat or national unity government to follow

  

  Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Tuesday he would resign after suffering a humiliating setback in parliament that showed a party revolt had stripped him of a majority.