International

• Wednesday, March 11th 2009 - 23:50 UTC

  IMF chief warns of “great recession” but markets react to upbeat banking report

  

  The head of the International Monetary Fund says the world economy is likely to shrink this year throwing millions into poverty, in what some are referring to as the “Great Recession”. IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a conference in Tanzania Tuesday that sharp declines in world trade are likely to hurt African economies.

• Wednesday, March 11th 2009 - 07:13 UTC

  Global sea level rising faster than forecasted warn scientists

  

  The global sea level looks set to rise far higher than forecast because of changes in the polar ice-sheets, a team of researchers has suggested. Scientists at a climate change summit in Copenhagen said earlier UN estimates were too low and that sea levels could rise by a metre or more by 2100.

• Tuesday, March 10th 2009 - 11:34 UTC

  Modern Commonwealth celebrates 60th anniversay with dedication to children

  

  The British Commonwealth Day which this year marks the sixtieth anniversary of its creation was celebrated on Monday 9 March throughout the 53 countries of the Commonwealth. Two Falkland Islands students participated in this year’s program.
  The theme for the anniversary of the modern Commonwealth and underlined in Queen Elizabeth II message, was “The Commonwealth @ 60: serving a new generation”.

• Tuesday, March 10th 2009 - 08:58 UTC

  Central bankers forecast world economy could be at “pick up” point

  

  The global economy may soon see signs of improvement, according to the heads of the world's major central banks. European Central Bank head Jean-Claude Trichet said that the world economy could be approaching a “pick-up” point.

• Tuesday, March 10th 2009 - 08:01 UTC

  WTO suggests Brazil should further reduce barriers to trade

  

  Brazil should further reduce barriers to trade in order to boost its economy, particularly given the global economic downturn, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said in a report released Monday.

• Tuesday, March 10th 2009 - 07:58 UTC

  Developing countries face financial shortfall of 700 bn USD, says World Bank

  

  With many in the private sector eschewing emerging markets, developing countries – only one quarter of which have the resources needed to prevent a spike in poverty – face a financing shortfall of up to 700 billion US dollars this year, according to the World Bank.

• Tuesday, March 10th 2009 - 07:13 UTC

  RAF Nimrods withdrawn from overseas operations

  

  Britain’s Royal Air Force fleet of Nimrod surveillance planes, some of which were involved in the 1982 Falkland Islands conflict, has been temporarily withdrawn from operations overseas, almost a year after a coroner called for the aircraft to be grounded because of safety concerns.

• Monday, March 9th 2009 - 14:16 UTC

  IMF calls for stimulus plans to extend until 2011

  

  The world should adopt economic stimulus plans that carry well into 2010, and possibly 2011, to ease a global recession and must expand financial regulation across all sectors to prevent a similar crisis in future, said the International Monetary Fund.

• Monday, March 9th 2009 - 11:01 UTC

  Spain confirms fifth human death of mad cow disease

  

  Spain confirmed that a woman has died from the human form of mad cow disease, the fifth such death in Spain since 2005. The victim died in January in the northern city of Santander, according to the statement, released by the Ministry of Health.

• Monday, March 9th 2009 - 10:21 UTC

  British Labour apparatus restless about electoral prospects

  

  Former British Cabinet minister Peter Hain has delivered a stark warning that Labour faces electoral disaster unless it adopts a “very different” agenda. In what will be seen as a thinly-veiled attack on Gordon Brown's leadership, Mr Hain insisted the party had lost its “narrative” and was no longer seen as a “credible force for change”.