International

• Saturday, November 14th 2009 - 13:27 UTC

  Shimon Peres ends visit to Brazil, Sunday flies to Argentina

  

  Israeli President Shimon Peres visited the headquarters of Brazilian oil company Petrobras in Rio de Janeiro Friday, on the last day of a historic official visit to Brazil.

• Saturday, November 14th 2009 - 13:25 UTC

  IMF calls on Asian countries to appreciate their currencies

  

  International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Khan urged Asian nations to let their currencies appreciate as part of the region’s contribution to a more balanced global recovery.

• Saturday, November 14th 2009 - 13:19 UTC

  NASA announces discovery of “significant amount” of water in the moon

  

  It's official: There's water on the moon—and a “significant amount” of it, too, members of NASA's recent moon-crash mission, LCROSS, announced Friday. In October, NASA crashed a two-ton rocket and the SUV-size LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) into the permanently shadowed crater Cabeus on the moon's South Pole.

• Saturday, November 14th 2009 - 05:53 UTC

  Canadian cat sparks rumours of Mrs. Thatcher’s death

  

  A misconstrued text message announcing the passing of a beloved pet has sparked a flurry of diplomatic activity in Canada. Transport Minister John Baird sent a message reading: “Thatcher has died”.

• Saturday, November 14th 2009 - 05:49 UTC

  Labour by-election victory gives PM Brown breathing space

  

  British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has survived his latest by-election test as Labour comfortably cruised to victory in the Glasgow North East by-election. The party's Willie Bain won the seat made vacant by the resignation of former Commons Speaker Michael Martin with a majority of 8,111 over the SNP.

• Saturday, November 14th 2009 - 05:47 UTC

  Euro zone “technically” emerges from recession in third quarter

  

  The 16-strong group of nations in the Euro-zone has “technically” emerged from recession, official figures show. European countries using the single currency grew their collective economy 0.4% in the third quarter.

• Friday, November 13th 2009 - 15:22 UTC

  British Airways/Iberia merger will create Europe’s third largest airline

  

  British Airways and Spanish airline Iberia say they have reached a preliminary agreement for a merger expected to be completed in late 2010. The merger, which must be approved by the European Commission, would create Europe's third biggest airline.
  Under its terms, Iberia would take a 45% stake and BA, which last week reported a six-month pre-tax loss of £292m, a 55% stake in the company.

• Friday, November 13th 2009 - 15:16 UTC

  Lula da Silva, next to Shimon Peres, justifies Iran’s leader visit to Brazil

  

  Brazil's President justified the scheduled visit of Iran's president in two weeks time and offered to mediate in the Middle East conflict between Israel and Palestine. Lula da Silva rejected criticism over the upcoming visit of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, slated for November 23, standing next to visiting Israeli president Shimon Peres.

• Friday, November 13th 2009 - 15:06 UTC

  Greenland loosing mass faster than anticipated

  

  The Greenland ice sheet is losing mass faster than first thought, contributing to an increasing rate of sea level rise, according to a Bristol University scientist.

• Friday, November 13th 2009 - 08:04 UTC

  US and Japan record low interest rates funding global “carry trades”

  

  The International Monetary Fund said that record low US interest rates are funding global “carry trades” and the dollar is still overvalued as concerns mount that new financial imbalances are forming.