International

• Wednesday, June 23rd 2010 - 03:08 UTC

  Whaling summit in Morocco: conservationists divided

  

  Campaigners have unveiled a petition signed by more than a million people calling for maintenance of the global moratorium on commercial whaling. It was presented to Australian minister Peter Garrett outside the International Whaling Commission meeting in Morocco.

• Tuesday, June 22nd 2010 - 04:54 UTC

  G20 leaders (mainly US and Europe) seem divided stimuli timing withdrawal

  

  President Barack Obama has warned against cutting national debts too quickly as it would put economic recovery at risk. In a letter to G20 leaders, the US president said that while it was important to put in place “credible plans” to cut deficits, withdrawing economic stimulus early was dangerous.

• Tuesday, June 22nd 2010 - 04:52 UTC

  Risk rating agency says low risk of a Euro zone breakup; praises Stabilization Mechanism

  

  Although the sovereign debt crisis has revealed weaknesses in several European Union countries, the risk of a Euro zone breakup is low over the shorter term, Fitch Ratings said on Monday.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 20:32 UTC

  HMS Manchester wren jailed for smuggling cocaine into the UK

  

  A Royal Navy wren has been jailed for smuggling cocaine into the UK on board a warship which had been on counter-narcotics training and in the first half of 2009 was involved in South Atlantic-Falkland Islands’ deployment, BBC reports.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 20:29 UTC

  IMF chief Strauss-Khan strongly supports Spain’s reforms

  

  IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn praised Spain’s management of the current economic situation and said the budget deficit will shrink “rapidly” as the government’s overhaul of labor rules boosts economic growth.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 19:28 UTC

  World Bank calls for stronger Yuan to reduce inflation and spur domestic demand

  

  World Bank has reiterated its view that the Chinese government should allow the Yuan to strengthen against other international currencies. The bank also forecasted the Chinese economy would grow 9.5% in 2010 and 8.5% in 2011.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 05:46 UTC

  What went wrong with the Euro? It was like some kind of sleeping pill

  

  EU president Herman Van Rompuy blamed the past strength of the European single currency for making the Euro zone unaware of its fiscal problems, in an interview with the Financial Times.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 04:43 UTC

  Spanish leader advices Cameron to act swiftly and fast with budget cuts

  

  Spanish president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero recommended British PM David Cameron to implement all economic reforms “swiftly, with no delay” and the widest ranging possible.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 04:29 UTC

  China wants higher pay for workers; spate of strikes in foreign owned companies

  

  One of China's most influential newspapers, the official People's Daily, has called for workers' incomes to be raised. The paper says wages need to rise to protect stability and transform society.

• Friday, June 18th 2010 - 00:08 UTC

  Spain’s leading bank “one of the best” in the EU, says Rodriguez Zapatero

  

  Spanish banking giant Banco Santander SA (STD) had “one of the best” results from the stress tests conducted by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors, a spokesman for Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Thursday.