International

• Wednesday, March 18th 2009 - 15:39 UTC

  Cruise industry expects 2009 to be weakest in five years

  

  Growth in the cruise travel industry in 2009 is forecast to be the weakest in five years as the recession holds down household spending and widespread job loss hurts operations of the major cruise lines. However the industry’s leaders remain upbeat.

• Wednesday, March 18th 2009 - 08:18 UTC

  Bank of England calls for urgent G-20 “joint commitment” on stimulus plans

  

  Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has issued a rallying cry for joined-up international efforts to pull the global economy out of a “sudden, severe and simultaneous” downturn.

• Wednesday, March 18th 2009 - 08:13 UTC

  Chile supports India as permanent member of UN Security Council

  

  India and Chile reaffirmed their support for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations including expansion of the Security Council to make the world body more representative, legitimate and effective.

• Wednesday, March 18th 2009 - 08:03 UTC

  Nobel Prize Krugman says US and EU stimulus packages insufficient

  

  The US economist and Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman said Tuesday that Europe and the United States should at least double their fiscal efforts in order to salvage the global economy.

• Wednesday, March 18th 2009 - 07:43 UTC

  IMF forecasts 0.6% global contraction this year

  

  The International Monetary Fund expects the global economy to contract 0.6% this year, according to forecasts provided on Tuesday by an IMF official in Lisbon.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2009 - 13:45 UTC

  UK Overseas Territory could loose self-government because of corruption

  

  Self-government in the Turks and Caicos Islands, a UK dependency, is set to be suspended after ministers were accused of incompetence and likely corruption, reports BBC.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2009 - 10:06 UTC

  UN calls for higher priority for water on development agenda

  

  Water must be given higher priority on the development agenda, a top United Nations official told a global gathering that opened today in Istanbul, stressing that the problems the world faces with regard to this precious resource are enormous.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2009 - 10:04 UTC

  UN “State of the World’s forests” dire forecast

  

  The global economic turmoil has resulted in reduced demand for wood, shrinking investments in industries and forest management, according to this year’s United Nations “State of the World’s Forests” report.

• Monday, March 16th 2009 - 14:57 UTC

  UK: Air passengers fall amid downturn

  

  Passenger numbers at UK airports fell last year for the first time since 1991. And the decline was particularly sharp in the final part of 2008 as the credit crunch started to bite, the figures from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) show.

• Monday, March 16th 2009 - 08:56 UTC

  OPEC: no further measures until full compliance of agreed oil cuts

  

  Oil ministers from the 12 OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) meeting in the Austrian capital Vienna over the weekend decided to keep oil production at current levels.