Australia's central bank raised interest rates on Tuesday for the fourth time since October, as it seeks to cool its growing economy. The increase, to 4% from 3.75%, was widely expected by economists.
The Bank of Canada took its first steps Tuesday toward returning the country to more normal interest-rate levels by signalling a more hawkish tone on inflation and acknowledging the economy is performing better than expected on vigorous consumer demand.
Ford Motor overtook rival General Motors in US sales on Tuesday as Toyota faltered amid a series of mass recalls and a congressional investigation into its safety standards. Toyota reported an 8.7% drop in February US sales to 100,027 vehicles, while the overall industry was expected to perform significantly better than depressed year-ago levels.
New analysis of scientific data from a NASA instrument aboard the 2008 Indian moon mission Chandrayaan-1 has detected more than 40 ice-filled craters in the lunar North Pole, reviving hopes for colonization of the moon by humans in future.
According to this year’s “Football Money League” report from Deloitte, some soccer clubs — such as British teams Arsenal and Chelsea, specifically — are falling down on the job when it comes to pricing their exposure with sponsors. The annual report ranks and analyzes international teams by their revenues, and breaks out sponsorship and advertising income.
Defense spending on protecting the Falkland Islands has plunged by 50% cent in just six years, it was claimed by a report in London’s Daily Mail.
Spain has declared that the European Union should refrain from any type of involvement in the Falkland Islands dispute, according to the official news agency EFE. A spokesman for the Spanish Government, which currently holds the rotating six-month presidency of the EU, is quoted as saying that “this is not a European matter but a British one, a bilateral affair rather than a regional one.
Downing Street has rejected an offer from the United States to help the UK and Argentina resolve their latest dispute over the Falkland Islands. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the offer after renewed tensions were triggered with the beginning of a round of exploratory oil drilling in the Islands’ waters.
The European Union top finance chief said Monday that the Euro-zone is prepared to take concerted action to support Greece, but he emphasized that Greece needs to make more of an effort to reduce its deficit.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Sunday that the Euro is facing its most serious crisis since its launch a decade ago. The comment comes as European Union officials prepare to visit Athens Monday amid reports of an EU bailout whose effects could lead to further debt crises in the continent's troubled south.