International

• Friday, December 30th 2011 - 21:39 UTC

  New Spanish government announces draconian measures to balance the budget

  

  Spain's new government revealed on Friday that the public deficit for 2011 would come in at 8% of GDP, well above a target of 6%, and announced income and property tax hikes and a civil servant wage freeze in response.

• Friday, December 30th 2011 - 06:03 UTC

  New York Times major blooper sends e-mails to 8 million instead of 300 people

  

  Some 8 million people received emails from the New York Times on Thursday offering a special discount if they would reconsider their decision to cancel their subscriptions.

• Friday, December 30th 2011 - 05:53 UTC

  Titanic sinking anniversary includes the auction of a 5.500 item collection

  

  The biggest collection of Titanic artefacts is to be sold off as a single lot in an auction timed for the 100th anniversary in April of the sinking of the famed ocean liner.

• Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 22:59 UTC

  Turkish economist named World Bank new Vice-President for Latin America

  

  Hasan Tuluy, a Turkish national and a strong supporter of inclusive growth, will become the new World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) as of January 1st, 2012. Mr. Tuluy will oversee the Bank’s lending, knowledge, and poverty-fighting operations in the region, which totalled 9.6 billion dollars in fiscal year 2011.

• Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 22:48 UTC

  The Iron Lady opens Friday in the US, “a Shakespearean story about power and loss”

  

  Making a film about an iconic politician like Britain's Margaret Thatcher is akin to walking into a movie minefield, and casting an American -- even one as revered as Meryl Streep -- is asking for more trouble.

• Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 22:07 UTC

  Scientists establish critical benchmark link for seabirds and available food

  

  An international group of scientists has shown that many seabirds begin to suffer when the food available for them in the ocean declines below a critical level. This level is about one-third of the maximum measured amount of food available. They have found that this critical level is about the same for seabird species around the world. Their study — the most comprehensive ever undertaken — covers birds from the Arctic to the Antarctic and from the Pacific to the Atlantic.

• Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 21:58 UTC

  Majority of Conservatives (54%) believe UK should leaver the EU, shows poll

  

  A majority of the ruling Conservative Party members believe Britain should leave the European Union, according to an opinion poll. A survey of party members by the ConservativeHome website for The Independent found 54% would favour ending Britain’s EU membership and signing up to a free-trade agreement

• Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 21:44 UTC

  Iran’s Ahmadinejad will visit four Latinamerican countries next January

  

  The Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadinejad will be travelling to Latinamerica in the second week of January 2012 to visit Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador, announced the Teheran presidential office, according to a report from the official news agency FNA.

• Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 21:33 UTC

  Spanish royals exposed: son in law involved in scandal and Crown expenses made public

  

  The Spanish king's son-in-law was charged Thursday in a fraud and embezzlement case that has damaged the royal family, which this week took the unprecedented step of disclosing its income.

• Wednesday, December 28th 2011 - 03:58 UTC

  Mexican telecoms giant planning to invest 5.4bn dollars in Brazil

  

  The Brazilian subsidiaries of Mexican telecoms giant America Movil are planning 10 billion Reais (5.4 billion dollars) worth of new investment in 2012, Folha de São Paulo said on Tuesday.