International

• Wednesday, April 13th 2011 - 00:34 UTC

  IMF says much more can be done to rein in fiscal deficits and debts

  

  The outlook for government debts and deficits in 2011 is a mixed bag, with most advanced economies reining in fiscal deficits, but not fast enough to keep their debt from rising. Fiscal balances are improving in most emerging economies, and some could do more as they experience a windfall from high commodity prices and strong capital flows.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2011 - 21:26 UTC

  IMF calls on the US to tackle the deficit and help financial markets stability

  

  There is an urgent need for the United States to tackle the deficit in the government's finances since the size of the exposure risks creating instability in the financial markets, according to the International Monetary Fund. However the IMF says the global economic recovery is gaining strength.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2011 - 21:04 UTC

  Majority of EU citizens want their fish from sustainable sources

  

  An overwhelming majority of EU citizens want the fish they buy to come from sources that are sustainable and not over-fished, according to an independent poll commissioned by World Wildlife Fund, WWF, and carried out in 14 EU countries.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2011 - 20:48 UTC

  EU makes effective tough new fisheries control system from “net to plate”

  

  A new system of fishery control with continent-wide, common rules and penalties is now fully operational, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2011 - 17:08 UTC

  The Lynx Mk3 takes off from HMS Ocean for the last time

  

  After more than 30 years’ service one of the mainstays of Britain’s Fleet Air Arm, including the Ice Patrol, has made its final appearance at sea, reports the Royal Navy. Nearly four decades to the day that the very first Lynx helicopter took to the skies, a Mk3 variant lifted off from the sprawling flight deck of HMS Ocean.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2011 - 16:34 UTC

  China opens to Brazilian pork and meat distribution hubs in six main cities

  

  China opened its market to Brazilian pork and Brazil’s meat packer Marfrig said it would invest heavily in distribution centres in China. The announcements were made in Beijing where a numerous government and private sector delegation headed by Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff is on an official visit to China.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2011 - 16:13 UTC

  China to keep buying Spanish public debt and invest in financial industry

  

  China will invest in Spain’s savings-bank industry and continue buying public debt, a Spanish government official cited Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao as telling Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero at a meeting Tuesday in Beijing.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2011 - 03:57 UTC

  Germany and US leading global recovery with ‘robust expansion’, says OECD

  

  The growth outlook for major industrialized economies is improving with Germany and the United States leading the recovery, the OECD's leading indicator for February showed.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2011 - 03:51 UTC

  German Literature Nobel Prize Guntther Grass warns of an “eco-dictatorship”

  

  German Nobel Prize winner Gunther Grass fears that the nuclear disaster in Japan and other environmental issues could lead to an “eco-dictatorship”, according to an interview published in the “Haumburger Abenbdblatt”.

• Monday, April 11th 2011 - 23:50 UTC

  FT forecasts Spain will be next in seeking financial assistance

  

  The mix of high external indebtedness, the fragility of the financial sector and the probability of further declines in asset prices increase the probability of a funding squeeze at some point means that “Spain will be the next country to seek financial assistance from the EU and the International Monetary Fund”, argues one of the Financial Times respected columnists.