International

• Friday, August 28th 2009 - 19:48 UTC

  Spanish economy keeps contracting in the second quarter: down 1.1%

  

  The Spanish economy shrunk more than expected in the second quarter in contrast with signs of recovery in France and Germany, according to the latest release from the Statistics Institute. Second quarter GDP contracted 1.1% quarter-on-quarter, a slight improvement on the first quarter when the economy shrunk 1.6%, mostly due to a hefty state stimulus spending plan.

• Friday, August 28th 2009 - 19:42 UTC

  Poultry connection strengthens global H1N1 flu pandemic, says FAO

  

  The detection of an H1N1 virus in turkeys in Chile raises concern that poultry farms elsewhere in the world could also become infected with the pandemic flu virus currently circulating in humans, FAO said Thursday.

• Friday, August 28th 2009 - 19:32 UTC

  Baby boom in Britain pushes population over the 61 million mark

  

  Britain is in the midst of a baby boom, helping push the population over the 61 million mark for the first time. More than three quarters of a million children were born in the UK last year, as fertility rates hit their highest levels in a generation.

• Thursday, August 27th 2009 - 08:45 UTC

  China has come to the rescue of Latinamerican exports, says Cepal

  

  China’s sustained demand for food, energy and minerals has helped Latinamerican countries to stimulate their economies and contain the negative impact of the current global recession, according to the latest report from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latinamerica and the Caribbean, Cepal.

• Thursday, August 27th 2009 - 08:34 UTC

  High-speed railway project to link Scotland with London

  

  Britain’s Network Rail has proposed a new £34 billion high-speed railway line linking Scotland and London by 2030. The line would serve Birmingham and Manchester, getting passengers from Glasgow to London in just two hours and 16 minutes, the rail firm said. It rejected several alternative routes, including the east of England.

• Thursday, August 27th 2009 - 08:30 UTC

  British households suffering from “worklessness” soars to 3.3 million

  

  The British government was accused of “deserting” millions of people after official figures showed the number of households in the UK with no one over the age of 16 working has increased by 240,000 in the past year to 3.3 million.

• Wednesday, August 26th 2009 - 02:01 UTC

  Skyrocket US budget deficit: tax rise once recession is over

  

  The US budget deficit will soar to almost 1.6 trillion US dollars this year, the highest on record, both the White House and Congress have warned. Fuelled by President Obama's 787 billion stimulus package and reduced tax revenues due to the recession, it compares with a 455 billion US dollars deficit in 2008.

• Wednesday, August 26th 2009 - 01:53 UTC

  A miserable story of accountability and opportunity

  

  Abdelbaset Ali al Megrahi was an intelligence agent. Since he worked for the Libyan government, he probably did some bad things. But he probably did not do the specific bad thing for which he was sentenced to 27 years in prison in Scotland.

• Wednesday, August 26th 2009 - 00:33 UTC

  Spain and Morocco to monitor Gibraltar Strait traffic; UK side-lined

  

  Britain has been side-lined from a proposal to change the mandatory reporting system for ships sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar, despite its jurisdiction over Gibraltar and the surrounding waters, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Tuesday, August 25th 2009 - 22:30 UTC

  South Korea launched its first space rocket with “partial success”

  

  South Korea has launched its first space rocket, though a scientific satellite it was carrying failed to enter into its proper orbit. South Korean officials described the launch as a “partial success”.