Britain’s Great Train robber Ronnie Biggs is facing an anxious wait to learn if he will be freed from jail after his parole hearing adjourned Thursday without a result. A spokesman for the Parole Board said a decision was likely by July this year, when Biggs becomes eligible for release after serving a third of his sentence.
This week-end, ministers of finance and central bankers will meet with officials of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington to address the reform of the two global financial institutions, which were created by the United States and its allies to fund and guide economic development after World War II.
Japan has reported its first annual trade deficit in 28 years, with exports in the year to March down 16% from the previous year. Total exports in February and March were half of what they had been a year earlier, the finance ministry said.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned credit crunch losses could reach 4 trillion US dollars, damaging the financial system for years to come. It further warns that even if urgent action is taken to clean up the banking system, the process will be slow and painful, delaying economic recovery. Banks may need 1.7 trillion in additional capital, the IMF forecasts.
Water levels in some of the world's most important rivers have declined significantly over the past 50 years, US researchers say. They say the reduced flows are linked to climate change and will have a major impact as the human population grows.
The controversial second home allowance for British members of Parliament could be axed within days after Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanded an urgent Commons vote on reforms.
Spain’s Foreign Affairs minister Miguel Angel Moratinos has called on other members of the European Union to follow the example of United States and leave aside the lack of interest on having an intense relation with Latinamerica.
The UK has experienced its first period of deflation in almost 50 years. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation fell to minus 0.4% last month, down from 0% in February, the first negative reading since March 1960.
The monarch will be spending the day privately at Windsor Castle with the Duke of Edinburgh.
Getting back to the relatively slim, trim days of the 1970s would help to tackle climate change, researchers say. The rising numbers of people who are overweight and obese in the UK means the nation uses 19% more food than 40 years ago, a study suggests.