International

• Thursday, June 24th 2010 - 02:24 UTC

  Lack of compromise questions credibility of International Whaling Commission

  

  Attempts to agree a compromise between whaling nations and their opponents at the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) annual meeting in Morocco have failed. After two days of private discussions, delegates reported they had been unable to reach agreement on major issues.

• Wednesday, June 23rd 2010 - 04:09 UTC

  UK, France and Germany slap coordinated levy on banks

  

  Banks operating in the UK will be hit with a levy in a move set to raise more than £8bn over four years, the chancellor has announced -The levy is part of a joint move between the UK, France and Germany.

• Wednesday, June 23rd 2010 - 03:52 UTC

  Spanish Socialists approve labour reforms; conservatives abstain

  

  Spanish lawmakers Tuesday gave preliminary approval to labour reforms considered essential for slashing the soaring jobless rate, reviving the fragile economy and sending a strong message to nervous markets.

• Wednesday, June 23rd 2010 - 03:25 UTC

  Spanish, world’s second language in international communication and growing

  

  Spanish has 416 million native speakers, ahead of English but behind Mandarin, according to the latest report from Spain’s Cervantes Institute. Spanish is also the world’s second in international communication and is the third most common in internet.

• 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.