International

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 11:46 UTC

  Standard Chartered record profits; criticizes regulation proposals

  

  Standard Chartered has reported record profits in 2009 and criticised some recent proposals to regulate banks. Pre-tax profits were 5.15 billion USD (£3.4bn), up 13% from 2008. Total pay and bonuses rose 4% to 4.91 billion USD.

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 04:19 UTC

  Europe welcomes Greek austerity plan, but Athens demands “solidarity”

  

  Europe has welcomed a 6.6 billion US dollars Greek austerity plan of pension freezes and tax hikes as the country mounts a frantic bid to cut its budget deficit. Hundreds of pensioners hit the streets after Prime Minister George Papandreou revealed the hit to public and private sector retirement plans.

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 04:13 UTC

  Giant waves ram cruise in Mediterranean killing two

  

  Two people have been killed and six injured as giant waves slammed into a cruise ship in the Mediterranean, the ship's owners have said. The 8 metres high rogue waves hit the Cypriot-owned Louis Majesty off the north-east coast of Spain.

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 04:10 UTC

  Spain: no end in sight for the ranks of unemployed

  

  The ranks of Spain’s unemployed increased by 2.03% in February compared with January, bringing the jobless total to more than 4.13 million, the Labour and Immigration Ministry said Tuesday. The figure is the highest since 1996.

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 03:34 UTC

  Spanish opposition reacts to Ban Ki-moon’s approach to decolonization process

  

  Spanish opposition Popular Party MP José Ignacio Landaluce said this week that the only option for the decolonisation of Gibraltar was its return to Spain. He was reacting to comments made by the United Nations’ Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who has called for a “pragmatic and realistic” approach to the decolonisation process.

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 03:28 UTC

  China lowers lending target; exporters demand “stable” Yuan

  

  Bank of China will maintain a reasonable pace of lending this year, Li Lihui, the president of the country's fourth-largest lender by assets said on Wednesday.

• Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 03:25 UTC

  Outbreak of foot and mouth disease in south China pig farms

  

  A total of 8,382 pigs have been culled after a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in south China's Guangdong Province, bordering Hong Kong, local animal husbandry and veterinary officials reported earlier this week.

• Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 - 07:32 UTC

  Ban Ki-moon calls for “creative solutions” from UN Decolonization Committee

  

  Creative solutions are needed for the remaining Non self-governing territories if the United Nations is to fulfil its obligations in supporting the legitimate aspirations of the peoples of these territories, said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the opening of the 2010 session of the Special Committee of 24 on decolonization, G-24.

• Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 - 06:39 UTC

  Russian billionaire looses 53 million USD deposit on villa purchase

  

  Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov lost 53 million US dollars deposit on a 530 million USD villa in southern France after a court ruled Tuesday that he failed to complete the purchase.

• Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 - 06:37 UTC

  China dependent Australia raised interest rate 25 points to 4%

  

  Australia's central bank raised interest rates on Tuesday for the fourth time since October, as it seeks to cool its growing economy. The increase, to 4% from 3.75%, was widely expected by economists.