International

• Monday, July 6th 2009 - 09:41 UTC

  Gibraltar joins Spanish and UK officials to prepare ministerial meeting

  

  A delegation from Gibraltar with Chief Minister Peter Caruana is participating of a three day non-ministerial round of the Tripartite Forum in Madrid which is expected to prepare the ground for a full ministerial meeting of the Forum in mid-July that will include Spanish Foreign Secretary Miguel Angel Moratinos.

• Monday, July 6th 2009 - 09:31 UTC

  UK to announce sweeping banking reform this week

  

  The United Kingdom Chancellor Alistair Darling has hit out at “kamikaze” bankers for damaging the British economy and said a shake-up to be unveiled this week would prevent a repeat.

• Monday, July 6th 2009 - 09:15 UTC

  New “marketing” for British overseas aid

  

  Britain’s overseas aid is to be re-branded in a bid to raise public awareness at home and abroad and help maintain support for spending during the downturn. The Department for International Development (DFID) will use the name “UKaid” for its funding of projects in the world's poorest countries following concerns raised by Parliament.

• Saturday, July 4th 2009 - 08:19 UTC

  A/H1N1 virus “unstoppable”; vaccine access a “political question”

  

  The United Nations top health official opened a forum in Mexico on combating the A/H1N1 flu saying that the spread of the virus worldwide is now “unstoppable”. World Health Organization head Margaret Chan added that the holding of the meeting in Cancun showed confidence in Mexico, which has been hard hit.

• Friday, July 3rd 2009 - 06:54 UTC

  European Central Bank implements “liquidity infusion”

  

  The European Central Bank's, ECB, kept its key rate unchanged at 1% for another month following their regular meeting. But at a news conference on Thursday ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet said he was pleased with the first results of the “liquidity infusion” to the banking system.

• Friday, July 3rd 2009 - 06:49 UTC

  May unemployment in Euro zone, 9.5% and 8.9% in European Union

  

  The unemployment rate in the 16-nation Euro zone jumped to 9.5% in May, the highest in 10 years, as the economies in the region continued to grapple with deepening recession. For the 16 countries sharing the common currency Euro, the jobless rate is the highest since May 1999.

• Friday, July 3rd 2009 - 06:44 UTC

  UK concedes pandemic can’t be contained and changes to “new treatment”

  

  The rising numbers of A/H1N1 virus flu cases mean trying to contain the virus is no longer an option says the British government says, reports BBC.

• Thursday, July 2nd 2009 - 09:17 UTC

  Gibraltar plans to purchase vessels “to put an end to Spanish incursions”

  

  The Gibraltar Government plans to boost its presence in Gibraltar’s territorial waters by purchasing larger vessels with which to enforce its jurisdiction reports the Gibraltar Chronicle. Chief Minister Peter Caruana made a brief reference to the plan during his closing address to Parliament at the end of last week’s budget session.

• Thursday, July 2nd 2009 - 08:17 UTC

  PM Brown and Tory leader Cameron clash over public spending cuts

  

  The leader of the British opposition, David Cameron has accused the Prime Minister of “deceit” over public spending cuts. Tory leader Cameron rounded on Mr Brown at Commons question time, after he again claimed the Tories were planning 10% cuts.

• Wednesday, July 1st 2009 - 12:44 UTC

  MPs call for an end to all UK military aid to Colombia

  

  British Members of Parliament from all parties are calling for an end to all UK military aid to Colombia, citing murders and human rights abuses by the country's security forces. The MPs have launched a TUC-backed group called Friends of Colombia.