International

• Friday, July 10th 2009 - 12:03 UTC

  Arrogant, ill mannered French tourists the worst in the world

  

  Already judged to be Europe’s worst tourists last year, the French have now been named as the worst in the world. In a survey of 4.500 international hotel owners, they are criticized for not speaking foreign languages and of being arrogant and tight with their cash.

• Friday, July 10th 2009 - 12:01 UTC

  Oil giant Shell world’s largest company ahead of Wall-Mart and Exxon

  

  Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has replaced US retail group Wal-Mart as the world's largest company, the latest annual survey by Fortune magazine says.

• Friday, July 10th 2009 - 07:33 UTC

  New constitution for St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha

  

  Britain’s Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant welcomed on Thursday the new St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009, which among other things includes a Bill of Rights, better defines the role of the Governor and has separate chapters for each of the three islands.

• Thursday, July 9th 2009 - 12:56 UTC

  G8 concerned with “exit strategies” from stimulus packages

  

  The leaders of G8 believe the world economy still faces “significant risks” and may need further help, but macro-economic stimulus “must be consistent with price stability and medium-term fiscal sustainability” according to summit documents that also reflect failure to agree climate change goals for 2050.

• Thursday, July 9th 2009 - 12:46 UTC

  New mix of hogs and seasonal flu detected in Canadian farm

  

  Two farm workers in Western Canada have become infected with a new flu virus, health officials said this week, emphasizing the strain, described as non-pandemic influenza A virus, was not related to the H1N1 pandemic.

• Thursday, July 9th 2009 - 12:25 UTC

  Bank of England to pump extra £ 25 billion to UK economy

  

  The Bank of England is set to pump an extra £25 billion into the recession-blighted UK economy. The rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to vote to step up its quantitative easing programme - effectively printing more money - while holding interest rates at their record low of 0.5%.

• Thursday, July 9th 2009 - 12:14 UTC

  Repsol in the process of selling YPF to China, says Beijing press

  

  Chinese media based on reliable sources from the country’s giant oil corporation CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) report the almost certain sale by Spain’s Repsol of 75% of its subsidiary YPF, an operation involving 14.5 billion US dollars

• Wednesday, July 8th 2009 - 11:50 UTC

  Brazil and France call for a more “democratic world order”

  

  French President Nicolas Sarkozy and visiting Brazilian President Lula da Silva called Tuesday for a more “democratic world order” that would give emerging economies a larger voice in international finance and justice affairs.

• Wednesday, July 8th 2009 - 07:30 UTC

  UK political consensus for Armed Forces review and spending cuts

  

  The United Kingdom government has laid the ground for the first full-scale review of Britain's armed forces for more than a decade once the general election is out of the way.

• Wednesday, July 8th 2009 - 07:21 UTC

  Tokyo, Osaka, Moscow, Geneva, Hong Kong, most costly cities

  

  London no longer stands among the most expensive cities in the world to live in, as the fall in value of sterling and declining house prices have made life less expensive in the UK capital according to Mercer consultancy.