International

Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 05:48 UTC
Bordering Spanish towns want to improve cooperation with Gibraltar

Spanish towns neighbouring with Gibraltar have said they want to improve cooperation and day to day communications with the Rock. Isabel Beneroso president of the Mancomunidad de Municipios (Commonwealth of municipalities) visited Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Peter Caruana, the second PSOE politician to call within the space of a week.
Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 05:40 UTC
Lord Mandelson calls for UK to boost trade with Bric countries

Britain could boost its exports by £27 billion if it increased its share of trade with four of the world's fastest growing economies, Lord Mandelson has said. In a speech in London, the former business secretary drew attention to findings that suggest UK exports to Brazil, Russia, India and China - the so-called 'Bric countries' - are lagging behind the rest of the world.
Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 05:33 UTC
Nuclear emergency and thousands of residents evacuated

The Japanese government declared a state of emergency at five nuclear reactors as cooling systems failed. Authorities battled Saturday to contain rising pressure at the plants damaged by a massive earthquake and were moving tens of thousands of residents from the area.
Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 05:21 UTC
Japan begins huge relief effort: hundreds killed but more feared disappeared

A mammoth relief mission is swinging into action in north-east Japan, a day after it was struck by a devastating tsunami, claiming hundreds of lives. Whole villages have been washed away and at least one town has been largely destroyed.
Friday, March 11th 2011 - 01:48 UTC
In spite of inflation, Bank of England leaves interest rates at record low 0.5%

UK interest rates have been held again at their record low of 0.5% by the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee. There has now been no change to the Bank rate for two years, despite the fact that inflation is currently twice the Bank's target rate.
Friday, March 11th 2011 - 01:23 UTC
European Parliament casts uncertainty over EU/Mercosur trade talks

This week’s strong statement from the European Parliament warning about concessions that ‘can adversely affect European farmers’, precisely a week before Mercosur and EU delegates meet in Brussels to advance trade discussions has caused a certain degree of uncertainty among the South American group delegates.
Friday, March 11th 2011 - 00:53 UTC
Decline of bees’ colonies threatens pollination, essential for growing more crops

More than a dozen factors, ranging from declines in flowering plants and the use of memory-damaging insecticides to the world-wide spread of pests and air pollution, may be behind the emerging decline of bee colonies across many parts of the globe.
Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 22:26 UTC
New Zealand cuts basic interest rate to help with earthquake recovery

New Zealand's central bank has cut the cost of borrowing to try to reduce the economic impact of the earthquake in Christchurch, the country's second largest city. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut the key interest rate 0.5 points to 2.5%.
Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 21:20 UTC
Rare trade deficit in China; conflicting opinions as to the reasons

Chinese trade figures released Thursday show a surprising deficit for February, as export growth slowed and import numbers remained strong. Chinese statistics released Thursday show that the country registered a trade deficit in February of 7.3 billion US dollars.
Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 20:30 UTC
China rules out multi-party democracy and western style political reforms

A senior Chinese leader says his country will not become a multi-party democracy or adopt other Western-style political reforms. Wu Bangguo - officially number two in the leadership structure - warned that China could face civil disorder if it abandoned its current system.