International

• Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 17:56 UTC

  Moody’s downgrades Spain’s sovereign debt rating

  

  Moody's Investors Service on Thursday slashed Spain's sovereign debt rating by a notch to Aa2 with a negative outlook, saying it was uncertain about the country's ability to improve its finances.

• Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 17:43 UTC

  Qatar set to have this year the highest per capita income in the world

  

  Qatar is set to become the country with the world’s highest per capita income following on a breathless 16% growth in 2010 and a forecasted 20% this year according to the latest estimates from the IMF.

• Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 06:51 UTC

  A Brazilian view of the current situation in Arab countries

  

  During Brazil's two decades of military dictatorship, it would have been unthinkable that a female former revolutionary would lead the country in the 21st century. That transition, from autocracy to democracy, might offer some lessons for rebels across the Arab world, Brazil’s longest serving foreign minister told a forum organised by the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies in Doha, Qatar.

• Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 06:47 UTC

  Inflation and production diversification, challenges for emerging economies

  

  Inflation and production diversification must be the top priorities of emerging economies such as Argentina warned Nobel Prize Joseph Stiglitz during an IMF sponsored forum on “Macro and growth policies at the wake of the crisis” which took place in Washington and convened top line economists and decision makers.

• Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 06:40 UTC

  Shanghai Disneyland set to open in 2015 at a cost of 3.7 billion USD

  

  Walt Disney’s theme park in Shanghai will be built in a 7 square-kilometre area that the city has designated as a tourist destination, according to a draft blueprint of the project.

• Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 06:34 UTC

  China scrambles to secure long-term uranium supplies for 84 nuclear plants

  

  China’s scramble to secure long-term uranium supplies to support the rapid expansion of its nuclear power industry has led the state-owned CGNPC Uranium to make a 1.23 billion US dollars takeover bid for London-listed Kalahari Minerals.

• Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 06:17 UTC

  World has 1.210 billionaires; Mexico’s Carlos Slim remains the richest person

  

  Mexico’s Carlos Slim remains the world’s richest person for a second year with estimated assets of 74 billion US dollars, according to Forbes magazine’s annual global ranking of billionaires.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 21:27 UTC

  US after transparent trade across Asia-Pacific region; plans to double exports in five years

  

  The United States will step up efforts for free, open and transparent trade across the Asia Pacific region as it seeks to double US exports in five years, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 21:21 UTC

  UK farmers come out strongly against Mercosur “cheap meat imports”

  

  Farmers in the UK have warned the EU against a trade deal with Mercosur which could see Brazil and Argentina given access to the European meat market, potentially flooding the market with cheap imports and undermining domestic producers.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 21:07 UTC

  China plans to build 10 million low cost homes in 2011

  

  China plans to build 10 million low-cost homes this year at a cost of 200 billion US dollars, a government minister has said. The move comes as soaring home prices spur complaints about affordability.