Spanish unemployment rose to the highest in more than a decade in December, 19.3%, capping a year that saw the nation’s jobless rate soar to double the Euro- zone average. The number of people registering for unemployment benefits increased by 54,657, or 1.41 percentage points from November to 3.92 million.
Britain was in the grip of snow chaos as Arctic conditions forced the closure of schools, roads and airports. Some train services were also cancelled as forecasters predicted one of the coldest winters in 100 years.
A huge bluefin tuna was sold for USD 176,000 in the first auction of the year at a Tokyo fish market on Tuesday, amid growing pressure on Japan to help save the threatened fish.
Global trade is expected to pick up again this year at a significant rate but not sufficient to overcome losses of 2009. Last year trade plunged 12.25% the worst result in seventy years and a full recovery can only be anticipated for 2011 when China will be confirmed as the world’s leading exporter.
UK Gordon Brown has admitted he is the underdog in the forthcoming general election battle - but insisted he is ready to fight for Britain. The Prime Minister said voters faced a big choice between the Tories promise of austerity and Labour's plans to encourage aspiration.
Brazil’s leading private banking institution Itaú-Unibanco denied London press reports it was interested in block-buying into UK banks that were saved from collapse in 2008 by the British government, as well as banks in other countries including United States, but admitted an interest in shares
Canada's Industry Minister, Tony Clement, has given PetroChina the go-ahead for a 1.7 billion US dollars acquisition of two oil sand projects.
Hundreds of illegal immigrants have been working for the British Government in some of the country's most sensitive offices. Some 349 illegal foreign staff have been given jobs with Whitehall departments, councils and NHS Trusts over the past four years.
MercoPress wishes all subscribers and readers a very prosperous New Year, hoping 2010 will definitively help to lift the world out of global recession.
Japan was asked not to greet Britain's first female prime minister with a security escort of 20 karate ladies, newly-released British government papers show. Margaret Thatcher visited Tokyo for an economic summit in June 1979 - a month after winning the general election.