International

• Wednesday, May 25th 2011 - 06:50 UTC

  Israel desalination plant will provide 20% of the country’s households water needs

  

  Israel's Finance Ministry has approved funding for the construction of the largest water desalination plant in the world. Under construction in Sorek, central Israel, the plant is scheduled to be completed in 2013 at a cost of 400 million US dollars.

• Wednesday, May 25th 2011 - 00:29 UTC

  G20 largest economies are avoiding protectionism says UNCTAS-OECD-WTO

  

  The Group of 20 (G20) largest economies are largely keeping their pledges to avoid protectionism as a reaction to the recent global recession, but the rest of the world is increasing trade barriers, a new report co-authored by the UN said Tuesday.

• Wednesday, May 25th 2011 - 00:27 UTC

  Transparency blasts OECD on poor results from the Anti-Bribery Convention

  

  A new report from the anti-corruption organization Transparency International (TI), shows no improvement in the enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in the past year and warns that this could signal a dangerous loss of momentum in the fight against corruption.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2011 - 19:39 UTC

  France says China supports Lagarde as next IMF chief given Euro zone situation

  

  China would support Finance Minister Christine Lagarde as the next IMF chief the French government said backing which would put her firmly in pole position to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2011 - 19:37 UTC

  Labour MP Dobbin new chairman of All Party Gibraltar Group

  

  British Labour MP Jim Dobbin is the new chairman of the All Party Gibraltar Group in the Commons. Mr Dobbin, elected at a meeting of the group Monday, takes on the position held by Eleanor Laing MP who resigned to take on the role of the Coalition Government’s special Gibraltar envoy with the MOD.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2011 - 19:29 UTC

  Royal 41-gun salute for the US President Obama at Buckingham Palace

  

  US President Barack Obama received a royal 41-gun salute at Buckingham Palace Tuesday to begin a two-day state visit aimed at ensuring the United States and Britain keep the “special” in their relationship.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2011 - 18:46 UTC

  US imposes sanctions on Venezuela’s PDVSA for engaging in trade with Iran

  

  United States announced new sanctions on Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA and six other smaller oil and shipping companies for engaging in trade with Iran in violation of a US ban.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2011 - 06:02 UTC

  Global sea level projected to rise by one metre by 2100, says Australian report

  

  The Australian Climate Commission has warned that acceleration of sea level-rise will be faster than anticipated. Global sea level is projected to rise by one meter by 2100, according to the Commission's first report published on Monday.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2011 - 00:59 UTC

  One in four Italians faces poverty because of the economy’s chronic low growth

  

  One Italian in four currently faces poverty as a result of the global financial crisis and their country's chronically low growth, the national statistics institute Isat said on Monday in a report.

• Tuesday, May 24th 2011 - 00:54 UTC

  Euro troubles and slower growth in China and EU hit Latin American markets

  

  Latin American stocks fell to an eight-month low on Monday triggered by concerns that the Euro zone debt problem was deepening and signs of slower growth in China. The region’s largest market Brazil’s Bovespa ended at its lowest since July 2010