International

• Saturday, April 10th 2010 - 04:40 UTC

  Default “not an issue” for Greece, says ECB’s Trichet, but are markets convinced

  

  Greek bonds and banking stocks took a massive hit on Thursday, driving the debt-stricken Euro zone member's borrowing costs to the highest level since Greece adopted the Euro currency.

• Friday, April 9th 2010 - 02:51 UTC

  China enthusiastic about reaching agreement over Argentine soybean oil

  

  Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister, Li Jinzhang, assured that China is “highly enthusiastic” about reaching an agreement to unlock the trade soybean oil conflict between Argentina and the Asian giant, according to Chinese media.

• Friday, April 9th 2010 - 02:49 UTC

  Gibraltar and Foreign Office disagree on waters’ “sovereignty” or “control”

  

  Britain and Gibraltar will use different legal arguments in challenging the European Commission’s decision to twice approve a Spanish nature site with British Gibraltar waters. While Gibraltar is focusing on British sovereignty of the waters, Britain itself has centred its case on the issue of control, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Friday, April 9th 2010 - 00:52 UTC

  The Uruguayan 2003 controlled default model, a way out for Greece?

  The Uruguayan default model of 2003, under the auspices of the IMF, is a possible way out for the Greek situation according to Professor Reinhart (*), a world authority in sovereign defaults. The idea surfaced in an interview with the Telegraph.co.uk, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard who has covered world politics and economics for 25 years, based in Europe, the US, and Latin America.

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 23:42 UTC

  US/China hold talks on “economic relations” and global situation

  

  US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner held talks Thursday in Beijing with Vice-Premier Wang Qishan. Neither the US nor Chinese officials would comment in detail on the meeting. But it is understood to be part of a long-running dispute over the value of the Chinese Yuan, which the US says has been kept artificially low.

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 23:39 UTC

  OECD votes for PM Brown and fourth Labour term

  

  Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s bid for a fourth Labour term received a boost this week with a forecast that the UK would pull out of recession faster than many major international rivals.

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 23:36 UTC

  Euro zone interest rates at record-low 1% for eleventh month

  

  The European Central Bank (ECB) has kept the Euro zone interest rate at its record-low level of 1% for the 11th month in a row. The decision was expected and comes as the ECB is scaling back its lending to banks aimed at stimulating the economy.

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 18:38 UTC

  Bank of England ratifies current monetary policy

  

  The Bank of England kept on Thursday the interest rate on hold and announced no change to current monetary policy. The cost of borrowing has now stayed at 0.5% for more than a year as the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee attempts to keep a fragile recovery on track.

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 18:13 UTC

  British Airways and Iberia en route to Europe’s second largest airline group

  

  British Airways and Spanish carrier Iberia have taken a further step towards creating Europe's second-largest airline group after signing their long-awaited merger deal. The merger, which they expect to complete in late 2010, will yield an airline with 408 aircraft and carrying more than 58 million passengers a year.

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 01:18 UTC

  Daimler, Renault, Nissan seal alliance to lower costs, expand in European market

  

  German auto major Daimler-Benz and Franco-Japanese alliance Renault-Nissan on Wednesday announced a three-way tie-up, including equity swaps, for co-operation in development of small cars and light commercial vehicles.