Copper tumbled below 2 US dollars a pound for the first time since December 2005, having dropped 34% so far this year. Speculation that the world economy is headed for a recession, including slower growth in China, anticipates a weaker demand for metals.
Caroline Flint, the new Minister for Europe at the Foreign Office, has reiterated the United Kingdom commitment not to enter into talks with Spain on Gibraltar's sovereignty, or any process of talks, against the wishes of the people of Gibraltar. The remarks came at the Gibraltar Day in London reception.
The number of investigations into the practice of dumping, or exporting a product at an unfairly low price, surged in the first half of this year, the World Trade Organization (WTO) reported this week.
The takeover of Northern Rock has helped push the United Kingdom's public sector debt to almost half of gross domestic product (GDP) in the last year, just off highs seen over a decade ago when Labour came to power.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva believes the ongoing financial crisis will lead to the election of Democrat Barack Obama as US president.
The government of the Netherlands has said it will invest 13.4 billion US dollars in banking and insurance company ING Groep NV to boost its capital position.
Italy has discovered two containers of milk and one of yogurt containing melamine, the industrial chemical that contaminated milk powder in China and hospitalised thousands of babies, the Health Ministry announced Sunday.
The International Monetary Fund is investigating allegations that its chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, had an improper relationship with a female employee. IMF lawyers have opened an independent probe into the charges, first reported Saturday by The Wall Street Journal.
The United Kingdom is already in a recession which could last for three quarters and will see unemployment rising to 5%, according to the Ernst & Young ITEM club, reports the British press.
The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) Working Group on Bribery sharply criticised the United Kingdom's failure to bring its anti-bribery laws into line with its international obligations under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and urged the rapid introduction of new legislation.