International

• Sunday, August 3rd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  “Cool UN” initiative: dress causal and turn down air conditioning

  

  Critics who say the United Nations only churns out hot air will find even more of the stuff if they visit the UN New York headquarters this month. Under the Cool UN initiative, the air conditioning will be turned down and temperatures will rise several degrees.

• Saturday, August 2nd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Oracles turned sour: credit rating agencies on the bench

  Credit rating agencies could be banned or prosecuted under a draft European Union law aimed at making them more accountable for the advice they give. Firms that rate debt investments, such as Fitch, Moody's and Standard & Poor's, have been criticized for their role in the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
  
  The new law would replace a voluntary code of conduct.

• Saturday, August 2nd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Russia plans trading company to control cereal exports

  

  Russia is to form a state grain trading company that will control the majority of the country's cereal exports, it has been reported.

• Friday, August 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Euro zone inflation at its fastest; unemployment 7.3%

  Inflation in the Euro zone accelerated to its pace in more than 16 years in July, 4.1% from 4% in June, according to the European Union statistics office in Luxembourg. A separate report showed unemployment was 7.3% in June.

• Friday, August 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Cruise liner hit by Pacific storm leaves 40 passengers injured

  

  An estimated 40 passengers were injured when a P&O Cruises ship encountered a storm about 400 miles from New Zealand, officials reported in Auckland.
  
  Passengers were treated for broken bones and minor flesh wounds after the Pacific Sun encountered seven meter swells and strong winds Wednesday night, The Daily Telegraph reported.

• Thursday, July 31st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Memorial service at wreck of River Plate Battle HMS Exeter

  

  HMS Kent, one of the Royal Navy's most modern warships, looked back at history as she remembered one of her illustrious World War II predecessors last Sunday. The Portsmouth based frigate, currently undertaking tasking in the Far East, laid wreaths over the recently found wreck of cruiser HMS Exeter during a ceremony attended by the British Ambassador to Indonesia, veterans and descendants of the sinking and the diver who discovered the wreck.

• Wednesday, July 30th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Controversial first shipment of US beef arrives in South Korea

  

  The first shipment of United States beef under a controversial import deal arrived in South Korea on Tuesday, officials said, amid lingering public concerns over mad cow disease.

• Wednesday, July 30th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Huge plaques break off from Canadian ice shelf in Arctic

  

  A chunk of ice spreading across 18 square kilometers has broken off a Canadian ice shelf in the Arctic, scientists say. The sheet broke away last week from the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf off the north coast of Ellesmere Island in Canada's far north.

• Wednesday, July 30th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Ban calls collapse of Doha round trade as “disappointing”

  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced on Wednesday disappointment at the collapse of the Doha round of trade liberalization negotiations, expressing concern over the effect of the breakdown of the talks on developing nations.

• Tuesday, July 29th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF warns credit crunch is extending to the whole world

  The global credit crunch shows no signs of abating, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In its latest global financial stability report the IMF says that falling house prices and slowing economic growth are hitting credit.