International

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 16:36 UTC

  Uruguay considers China a ‘strategic partner’ and supports a Beijing-Mercosur trade accord

  

  Uruguay sees China as a ‘strategic partner’ and has kept good relations with Beijing since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in 1988, said Uruguayan Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro, a former ambassador to China from 2007-2009. Almagro made the statement as Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping begun his official visit to Uruguay.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 06:40 UTC

  Ban Ki-moon receives US support for his UN Secretary General second term

  

  US President Barack Obama supports UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's bid for a second term and believes he has made important reforms at an institution that is imperfect, the White House said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 06:23 UTC

  French team retrieves all salvageable bodies from 3.900 metres deep Atlantic

  

  The French search team has retrieved all salvageable bodies from the sunken wreckage of an Air France airliner which crashed in the sea off Brazil two years ago, victims' families said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 06:09 UTC

  IMF chief hopeful Lagarde in China after a ‘no commitment’ from India

  

  French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde is expected in Beijing after having visited India where officials made a ‘no commitment’ in support of her IMF candidacy. On the weekend her whirlwind global tour takes her to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 06:05 UTC

  Croatia is “ready to join EU” and “good news” expected on Friday

  

  The European Commission will recommend that EU member governments finalize accession talks with Croatia, clearing an important hurdle on Zagreb's path to joining the 27-strong bloc.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 02:12 UTC

  Germans don’t work as hard or intensely as Southern Europeans

  

  Southern Europeans work more and longer than Germans revealed a study discarding recent comments made by Chancellor Angela Merkel arguing that workers in debt-mired Greece, Spain and Portugal are lazy.

• Wednesday, June 8th 2011 - 00:09 UTC

  Argentine debt expert forecasts significant “hair cuts” for Greek bond holders

  

  Holders of Greek bonds will suffer a larger ‘hair cut’ than that experienced by Argentine creditors forecasts Argentina’s former Finance Secretary Guillermo Nielsen who played a crucial role in negotiations with creditors following the 2002 default.

• Tuesday, June 7th 2011 - 21:51 UTC

  Uruguay complains about low ratings from the risk agencies

  

  Economy minister Fernando Lorenzo accused rating agencies of failing to recognize the increasing strength of Uruguay’s sustained economic growth and therefore denying its investment grade status.

• Tuesday, June 7th 2011 - 03:27 UTC

  IMF backs UK plan to reduce deficit but warns on weak growth

  

  The International Monetary Fund backed the British government's plans to reduce the budget deficit, but said tax cuts or more quantitative easing may be needed if growth proves persistently weak.

• Tuesday, June 7th 2011 - 01:30 UTC

  Ban Ki-moon running for a second term as UN Secretary General

  

  Ban Ki-moon formally asked the UN Security Council to support his candidacy for a second five-year term as UN secretary-general, according to a letter. His first term ends December 31 and so far is unopposed.