International

• Wednesday, May 12th 2010 - 22:15 UTC

  Spain Under Pressure from Europe Unveils Drastic Cuts to Contain Budget Crisis

  

  Under pressure from Europe to deliver (shape up or ship out) Spain's PM has outlined a plan to tackle the country's budget crisis, amid concerns that problems afflicting Greece may spread across the Eurozone.

• Wednesday, May 12th 2010 - 07:18 UTC

  Chile’s Piñera to Address Business Leaders Previous to Latam/EU Summit

  

  Chile’s president Sebastian Piñera has a busy schedule planned for the upcoming Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union Summit scheduled for Madrid early next week. Piñera will use the opportunity to explain exactly what he wants to do with his four years of presidency.

• Wednesday, May 12th 2010 - 07:16 UTC

  China April Inflation Accelerates and Property Prices Jump 12.8%

  

  April inflation in China has accelerated as bank lending exceeded estimates and property prices jumped by a record, increasing pressure on the government to raise interest rates and let the currency appreciate.

• Wednesday, May 12th 2010 - 07:09 UTC

  World Markets Lower After Taking a Second Look at Euro Rescue Plan

  

  United States shares closed lower on Tuesday as global stock markets stalled on niggling worries over European debt problems. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones index closed down 0.34% following a turbulent day's trading, and a nearly 4% rise on Monday.

• Wednesday, May 12th 2010 - 03:54 UTC

  IMF: Euro Countries Must Focus on Cutting Deficits; Denies “Blanket Commitment”

  

  European countries saddled with debt should focus on cutting deficits in the wake of policy makers' unprecedented efforts to contain the region's sovereign-debt crisis, said John Lipsky from the International Monetary Fund.

• Wednesday, May 12th 2010 - 01:20 UTC

  Bank of England “No-Change” Policy; Leaves Assets-Purchase Program at £ 200bn

  

  The Bank of England held interest rates at record lows as policy-makers weighed up the impact of a Eurozone bailout and a hung parliament. The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee voted to hold rates at 0.5% and left its £200 billion program to boost the money supply unchanged.

• Tuesday, May 11th 2010 - 21:48 UTC

  PM Cameron Ends 13 Years of Labour Rule; First Coalition Government in 70 Years

  

  Conservative leader David Cameron became on Tuesday the new UK prime minister after the resignation of Gordon Brown. Mr Cameron, 43, entered 10 Downing Street after travelling to Buckingham Palace to formally accept the Queen's request to form the next government.

• Tuesday, May 11th 2010 - 16:29 UTC

  EU “Grumpy” Seven Led by France Against Trade Talks with Mercosur

  

  France and six other countries expressed concern before the European Union about the competition consequences for the farm sector in the event of an agreement with Mercosur.

• Tuesday, May 11th 2010 - 03:40 UTC

  PM Brown Steps Down to Open Way for Labour Government with Lib Dems

  

  British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced he will step down as Labour leader by September, as his party opens formal talks with the Lib Dems about forming a government.

• Tuesday, May 11th 2010 - 03:35 UTC

  Euro Support Package Approved by Soaring Global Markets, but Doubts Linger

  

  Global stock markets soared after the European Union and International Monetary Fund intervened to stop the Greek debt crisis spreading and support the weakened Euro.