The Arctic Ocean will be an open sea almost entirely free from ice within a decade, newly-released data has indicated. Ice cover during the summer months will have entirely disappeared within 20 years, but most of the decrease will happen before 2020, leaving the Arctic Ocean clear for marine transport.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has topped the 10,000 mark for the first time in a year. World markets were boosted by the news that US bank JP Morgan Chase reported a better-than-expected profit in the July-to-September quarter. The Dow closed up 144.8 at 10,015.86, its highest since October 2008.
Brazil's Bovespa stocks index and currency, the Real, extended recent rallies Wednesday to end at fresh highs not seen in more than a year. The main Sao Paulo stocks index ended 2.4% higher at a 16-month high of 66,201 points.
The super rich from China seem to have put the credit crunch behind them as the average wealth of China’s richest 1,000 people grew 30% in the past 12 months, surpassing the boom of 2007, according to a report released this week in Shanghai.
Environmentalist David Suzuki has received a prestigious award known as the alternative Nobel for his work to raise awareness about climate change. Suzuki, 73, received the Right Livelihood Award, along with three other activists.
United Kingdom unemployment is still on course to soar above three million despite better-than-expected jobless figures, experts have warned. Official data showed unemployment rising to 2.47 million in the three months to August, an increase of 88,000 on the quarter to May
China’s foreign-exchange reserves, the world’s biggest, climbed about 141 billion US dollars in the third quarter to a record 2.273 trillion USD, the People’s Bank of China said Wednesday on its Web site.
As of next July 2010, access to a 1 Megabit-per-second broadband connection becomes a right for all Finnish citizens according to a decree from the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has predicted for next year an increase in global demand for oil driven by a global economic recovery. The 12-nation cartel said in its latest monthly report that 2010 world demand for crude would be 84.93 million barrels per day for an increase of 0.83%.
A trial of a scanner that produces naked images of passengers has begun at Manchester Airport, Britain. The authorities say it will speed up security checks by quickly revealing any concealed weapons or explosives.