International

• Wednesday, November 4th 2009 - 13:10 UTC

  Major restructure of British banks includes more injection of funds

  

  Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling welcomed Tuesday the announcements that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group are to sell off hundreds of branches.

• Wednesday, November 4th 2009 - 09:32 UTC

  Spain’s unemployment at a record 19.3% and no stopping in near future

  

  Spain's registered jobless rose for the third consecutive month in October reaching 19.3%, as stimulus spending began to run out and the boost from the busy summer period faded.

• Wednesday, November 4th 2009 - 09:24 UTC

  Iraq signs oil development agreements with Britain, China and Italy

  

  Iraq's oil ministry has signed an initial agreement with a consortium led by the Italian firm, ENI, to develop the Zubair oilfield in southern Iraq. The deal which needs cabinet approval calls for the group to extract 200,000 barrels of oil a day, rising to 1.1 million a day within seven years.

• Tuesday, November 3rd 2009 - 11:58 UTC

  French Defence minister calls on Argentina to follow the steps of Brazil

  

  French Defence minister Hervé Morin said that Argentina could increase its international influence following on the steps of Brazil, which is currently modernizing its military hardware and planning on the long term.

• Tuesday, November 3rd 2009 - 11:30 UTC

  Delaware, Cayman Islands and London City among “most secretive tax havens”

  

  A league table of the world’s most secretive tax havens has been compiled by campaigners seeking greater transparency about the operation of ‘offshore’ finance centres. The Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) analyses the level of secrecy each haven offers, and the extent of their reluctance to co-operate with other countries tax authorities.

• Tuesday, November 3rd 2009 - 08:38 UTC

  Mega German project to power Europe with the Sahara sun

  

  Plans to provide 15% of Europe’s power from solar power generators in the Sahara by 2050 have moved a step forward with the formation of a consortium of companies. The German-led Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) has signed up 12 companies including E.ON, RWE, ABB, Siemens and Deutsche Bank, as well as solar specialists ABENGOA Solar, SCHOTT Solar and MAN Solar Millennium.

• Tuesday, November 3rd 2009 - 08:24 UTC

  Royal Bank of Scotland to cut 3.700 jobs in UK branches

  

  Royal Bank of Scotland is to cut 3,700 jobs across its UK branch network in a bid to modernise the way the bank operates, the company has said. The redundancies follow a strategic review of the bank and will take effect from May next year.

• Monday, November 2nd 2009 - 12:01 UTC

  Satellite to study the Earth’s soil moisture and ocean salinity in orbit

  

  Europe has successfully launched a new satellite to unravel the mysteries of Earth's water cycle, shedding new light on how moisture is absorbed into the atmosphere and the process's link to climate change.

• Monday, November 2nd 2009 - 11:59 UTC

  Lloyds planning huge shares and bonds issue to cut off from government umbrella

  

  Lloyds Banking Group is prepared to pay a fee of close to £2.5 billion to steer clear of the Government Asset Protection Scheme (GAPS), according to BBC sources. Lloyds believes it can survive without the GAPS and does not want the additional government influence which comes with the scheme.

• Monday, November 2nd 2009 - 11:55 UTC

  Massive oil spill from Australian underwater well; top brains unable to plug leak

  

  An oil well at the centre of a massive spill in the Timor Sea off the North West coast of Australia is on fire. The company which runs the well, PTTEP Australasia, said the fire broke out as it made another attempt to plug a leak deep underwater at the West Atlas rig.