International

• Thursday, November 12th 2009 - 09:25 UTC

  US dollar role as reserve currency “intact” but Yuan becoming an alternative

  

  World Bank President Robert Zoellick said that the dollar's role as a reserve currency is intact, but the United States cannot take it for granted and needs to tackle its huge fiscal deficit.

• Wednesday, November 11th 2009 - 11:20 UTC

  UK risks loosing AAA sovereign credit rating because of budget deficit

  

  The United Kingdom is the developed nation most at risk of losing its AAA sovereign credit rating because of the budget deficit and virtually no margin left in the event of another downturn, Fitch warned Tuesday.

• Wednesday, November 11th 2009 - 11:15 UTC

  Glaxo donates 50 million doses of H1N1 virus vaccine to WHO

  

  The international laboratory GlaxoSmithKline has promised to donate 50 million doses of pandemic H1N1 vaccine to the World Health Organization (WHO) under an agreement signed at WHO headquarters in Geneva.

• Wednesday, November 11th 2009 - 11:11 UTC

  Foreign Office embarrassed: Sorry, did you mean Algeciras or Algeria?

  

  In 2006, British officials filed an application to list part of Gibraltar waters as an EU protected nature site. Now it has emerged they got the wrong coordinates: Instead of designating the sea around Gibraltar, they listed a stretch of water somewhere off the coast of Algeria.

• Wednesday, November 11th 2009 - 11:07 UTC

  Lloyds Group announced more jobs cuts: 5.000 positions in 2010

  

  Lloyds Banking Group is to axe thousands of jobs next year in a fresh wave of cuts under plans to reduce costs, sources have said. Up to 5,000 positions are expected to be cut in the UK in 2010, on top of thousands already slashed this year.

• Wednesday, November 11th 2009 - 11:01 UTC

  Shoplifting by affluent shoppers hit the recession soars in the UK

  

  United Kingdom affluent shoppers hit by the recession are fuelling a shoplifting crime-wave, according to research. Middle-class people reluctant to give up luxuries they can no longer afford are behind thefts of expensive foods, alcohol and cosmetics, the Centre for Retail Research data claimed.

• Wednesday, November 11th 2009 - 10:55 UTC

  IEA forecasts 40% energy demand growth by 2030; mostly fossil fuels

  

  World global demand for energy which has fallen in 2009 because of the recession is forecasted to soar 40% by 2030 and the Copenhagen summit next month will be “crucial” to design an energy sustainable future according to the “World Energy Outlook 2009” released in London by the International Energy Agency.

• Wednesday, November 11th 2009 - 10:43 UTC

  Buenos Aires hosts conference on clowns and Patch Adams’ doctors

  

  Some 400 clowns and doctors skilled at clowning took part in an international conference in Buenos Aires to present scientific evidence, backed by their own experience, to show why laughter was healthy

• Tuesday, November 10th 2009 - 12:00 UTC

  On Berlin Wall Fall anniversary world leaders pledge to battle injustice

  

  World leaders marking the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's fall have said the battle against injustice around the world must continue. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was joined at the Brandenburg Gate by UK PM Gordon Brown, France's Nicolas Sarkozy and top US diplomat Hillary Clinton.
  They warned human rights were still under threat for millions of people.

• Tuesday, November 10th 2009 - 11:47 UTC

  Welsh couple and syndicate from Liverpool hit £ 90 million jackpot

  

  The winning ticket holders of the United Kingdom's largest-ever lottery prize are a married couple from Newport, in south Wales, and a syndicate from Liverpool. The two tickets will take a £45,570,835.50 share of Friday's £90m (100 million Euros) Euro-millions jackpot.