International

• Thursday, November 25th 2010 - 21:24 UTC

  Germany out of the woods and heading for full employment, says minister

  

  Germany’s Economy minister Rainer Bruederle has given an upbeat assessment of his country's recovery, including the assertion that “full employment will soon be possible”. He said that Germans were “doing well and spending again”, and that domestic consumption was strong.

• Thursday, November 25th 2010 - 20:42 UTC

  EasyJet announced Liverpool/Gibraltar three times weekly service

  

  EasyJet, one of UK's largest airlines and which also claims to give best value, launched Thursday a brand new route to Gibraltar from Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

• Thursday, November 25th 2010 - 04:25 UTC

  Large sovereign bond trader adheres to Germany’s “hair-cut” proposal

  

  One of the world's largest private buyers of government bonds says the private sector should bear some of the cost of financial rescues such as for the Irish Republic. The comments came from Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of Pimco, which holds investments worth 1.3 trillion US dollars (equivalent to 80% of Brazil's GDP).

• Thursday, November 25th 2010 - 04:19 UTC

  UK main supermarkets agree to origin labels for meats and dairy products

  

  UK's main supermarkets have signed up to a new voluntary code of conduct on food labelling to provide consumers with clearer information on the origin of their food. The new principles apply to meat and processed meat products as well as dairy products.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 20:03 UTC

  Irish government slashes benefits and raises taxes: VAT 24%

  

  The Irish government has unveiled a range of tough austerity measures designed to help solve the country's debt crisis. Among the spending cuts and tax rises are a reduction in the minimum wage, a new property tax and thousands of public sector job cuts.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 19:57 UTC

  Final journey for a HMS Ark Royal formation of Harrier jump jets

  

  A formation of Harrier jump jets has made their final journey from HMS Ark Royal - the last such flight from a UK aircraft carrier for about 10 years. The four GR9 jets marked the end of an era when they roared off the deck near North Shields, North Tyneside. Both the Ark Royal and the Harriers are being scrapped under cost-saving plans.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 15:38 UTC

  Exports help UK economy expand but tight budget contracts domestic demand

  

  United Kingdom’s export growth helped the economy extend its recovery in the third quarter as growth in consumer, government and investment spending slowed by more than half. GDP rose 0.8% from the previous three months, when it increased 1.2%, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday in London.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 15:36 UTC

  IMF insists Europe needs “far-reaching” reforms to safeguard the “social model”

  

  Europe needs collaborative and far-reaching reforms to restore strong and balanced growth across the region and safeguard the European social model, the head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn told bankers and officials in Frankfurt.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 05:19 UTC

  EU and IMF are demanding more austerity and reforms from Greece

  

  EU and IMF auditors cleared a new slice of rescue funding for Greece on Tuesday but demanded more austerity action while acknowledging that the country faced potential strains in repaying on time.

• Wednesday, November 24th 2010 - 05:17 UTC

  Emergency loans to Ireland total 85 b Euros, conditioned to draconian budget cuts

  

  EU and IMF have extended 85bn Euros of emergency loans to the Republic of Ireland, according to reports on Irish state television. The widely anticipated bail-out package comes after a day of sharp falls in global share prices and the Euro.