International

• Thursday, November 17th 2011 - 19:53 UTC

  Moody downgrades ratings of ten German public-sector banks

  

  Moody’s ratings agency decided on Thursday to surprisingly downgrade the rating of ten German public-sector banks. This is the first time Europe’s largest economy in the region, which keeps the Euro zone afloat, is hit.

• Thursday, November 17th 2011 - 17:41 UTC

  G20 president says Uruguay is no ‘fiscal haven’ and praises transparency commitment

  

  Uruguay received a huge political boost from Mexico (the same it was denied from its Mercosur partners under influence from Argentina) in its dispute with the recent G20 summit which through spokesperson French president Nicholas Sarkozy described Uruguay as a ‘fiscal haven’.

• Thursday, November 17th 2011 - 07:20 UTC

  US is all in a “Pacific power”, Obama tells Australia (and China)

  

  President Barack Obama said that the Asia-Pacific region will play a key role in defining the world's future. “The United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay,” he stated in a speech to the Australian Parliament, sending a clear message to Beijing.

• Thursday, November 17th 2011 - 03:45 UTC

  Euro crisis had heads rolling in the IMF; European Department chief removed

  

  The head of the International Monetary Fund's European department quit less than a year into the job and was replaced by a veteran staffer as the European debt crisis worsens.

• Wednesday, November 16th 2011 - 21:01 UTC

  Unhate campaign launches a round of kissing among world leaders

  

  Benetton, the Italian family-controlled clothing empire, looks set to raise a few eyebrows, as it unveiled a new worldwide communication “Unhate” campaign that features political and faith leaders like Pope Benedict XVI, German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez kissing.

• Wednesday, November 16th 2011 - 18:04 UTC

  Italian cabinet, totally technocrat, sworn in; parties promise support for reforms

  

  Mario Monti formed a new technocrat government in Italy Wednesday to tackle a major debt crisis threatening the entire Euro zone and said he hoped it would placate financial markets.

• Wednesday, November 16th 2011 - 14:45 UTC

  The ‘super-connected’ 1.318 corporations of global economic power

  

  As protestors against financial power sweep the world this week, science may have confirmed the protesters' worst fears. An analysis of the relationships between 43.000 transnational corporations has identified a relatively small group of companies, mainly banks, with disproportionate power over the global economy.

• Wednesday, November 16th 2011 - 14:40 UTC

  China, Japan, Canada urge greater action from the EU on the Euro crisis

  

  Non-European policymakers joined US President Barak Obama in urging greater action from the European Union to deal with the two year old crisis, and came as equity markets fell in response to a sell-off in euro zone bond markets.

• Wednesday, November 16th 2011 - 14:36 UTC

  ECB moves in to stop sell-off of EU bonds; Obama calls for stronger political will

  

  The European Central Bank stepped in on Wednesday to stem an accelerating sell-off of Euro zone government bonds, traders said, after the United States called for more decisive action to halt a spreading sovereign debt crisis.

• Wednesday, November 16th 2011 - 14:33 UTC

  Brazil says BRICS is large enough for the moment

  

  Brazil does not want to see the BRICS group of emerging countries enlarged for the time being but demands the developing world be given a greater say in international bodies, the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday.