International

• Wednesday, March 24th 2010 - 22:27 UTC

  Portugal credit rating downgrade sank the Euro and Wall Street

  

  The Euro sank to a 10-month low against the dollar and US stocks fell on Wednesday after a downgrade of Portugal's credit rating raised worries about Europe's growing debt burden.

• Wednesday, March 24th 2010 - 22:22 UTC

  Climate change puts an end to India-Bangladesh island dispute

  

  Once a flashpoint in India-Bangladesh ties the New Moore Island or Purbasha in the Bay of Bengal, which Dhaka called the South Talpatti, has ceased to exist consumed by hungry tides and the rising sea.

• Wednesday, March 24th 2010 - 05:24 UTC

  Crisis lesson: better to rely on international reserves than IMF credit says Brazil

  

  Brazil’s Central Bank believes it is better for the country to hold its own foreign exchange reserves than to rely on credit lines from international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 23:02 UTC

  One out of five Spaniards “below the threshold of poverty”

  

  Spain’s economic crisis had devastating effects on the quality of life of the population during 2009. According to a damning survey on living conditions in the country published by the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas) 13.7% of households in Spain had “great difficulty” in making ends meet at the end of each month.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 22:56 UTC

  UK consumer inflation falls to 3% in February

  

  Lower prices of toys and games have contributed to a fall in the UK's headline rate of inflation to 3% - closer to the Bank of England's 2% target. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) fell to 3% in February from 3.5% in January, new figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 22:50 UTC

  Lula da Silva wants Hamas and Hezbollah in Mid East negotiations table

  

  Brazilian president Lula da Silva said he is willing and available to begin talks with the Palestine Hamas organization, as well as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and even Iran, to reach peace in the Middle East.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 03:39 UTC

  Unsafe water kills more people than war, Ban says on World Day

  

  More people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday, calling for better protection and sustainable management of one of the Earth’s most precious resources on the occasion of World Water Day.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 03:36 UTC

  Google is “totally wrong” in stopping filtering Chinese site, warns Beijing

  

  Google Inc. is “totally wrong” in stopping censorship of its Chinese-language search results and blaming China for “alleged hacker attacks,” Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday, citing an unidentified government official.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 03:32 UTC

  European Union remains divided over monetary aid to Greece

  

  The president of the European Commission challenged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to rise above domestic politics and agree on a financial safety net for debt-stricken Greece to help preserve European monetary union.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 03:09 UTC

  French team breaks around the world sailing record: 48 days, 7 hours

  

  French skipper Franck Cammas and his crew onboard Groupama 3 have broken the around-the-world sailing record. The maxi-trimaran shaved two days eight hours off the mark set by Orange II in 2005 to set a record of 48 days seven hours 44 minutes to lap the globe.