International

• Wednesday, October 28th 2009 - 07:21 UTC

  World’s largest cruise vessel, 225.282 tons delivered to Royal Caribbean

  

  The final pieces are falling into place for “Oasis of the Seas” with the ship's future owners Royal Caribbean and homeport Fort Lauderdale in Florida State poised to introduce the world to the largest cruise ship ever built.

• Wednesday, October 28th 2009 - 07:10 UTC

  New Gibraltar governor ratifies UK support for self determination and defence

  

  The new and modern Constitution “reaffirms the right of the people of Gibraltar to self-determination and the British Government’s commitment to uphold that right” said Sir Adrian Johns this week on the Swearing in Ceremony as Gibraltar’s 64th governor.

• Tuesday, October 27th 2009 - 07:46 UTC

  China launches stock market to help finance new industries

  

  China is launching its long-awaited Nasdaq-style stock market in the southern city of Shenzhen. Twenty eight small- and medium-sized enterprises are expected to debut on the new exchange.

• Tuesday, October 27th 2009 - 07:42 UTC

  ING group to split banking and life insurance operations

  

  Dutch ING Group on Monday announced that it will move towards a complete separation of its banking and life insurance operations. ING which was bailed out by the Dutch government said it would dispose of its insurance operations over the next four years and raising 7.5 billion Euros in a rights issue.

• Monday, October 26th 2009 - 10:21 UTC

  Fifth Type 45 destroyer “Defender” launched in Scotland

  

  Thousands turned out on the banks of the Clyde in Scotland to cheer on the latest ship to make up the Royal Navy’s new Type 45 destroyer class. Defender sailed for the first time this week.

• Saturday, October 24th 2009 - 16:56 UTC

  UK suffering the longest recession since records began

  

  The UK is now in the grip of the longest recession since records began, according to gloomy official figures. Hopes for an end to the recession were scuppered as the economy shrank by a shock 0.4% between July and September - a record sixth quarter in a row of decline.

• Saturday, October 24th 2009 - 16:50 UTC

  Rich Germans want to pay higher taxes to help with recovery

  

  A group of rich Germans has launched a petition calling for the government to make wealthy people pay higher taxes. The group says they have more money than they need, and the extra revenue could fund economic and social programmes to aid Germany's economic recovery.

• Saturday, October 24th 2009 - 16:32 UTC

  Spain’s unemployment remains unchanged at record high

  

  Spain’s unemployment rate stood at 17.93% in the third quarter, or virtually unchanged from the previous three-month period, the National Statistics Institute, or INE, said.

• Saturday, October 24th 2009 - 07:36 UTC

  Climate change causes and potential effects divide scientific community

  

  A growing number of scientists, along with the general public, are disputing the common consensus over the causes and potential effects of climate change. Recent studies have shown that the hottest year on record in recent history was in fact 1998 and that no increase in global temperature has been observed for the last 11 years, adding further scepticism to the climate debate.

• Saturday, October 24th 2009 - 06:10 UTC

  European Parliament votes 300 million Euro support for dairy farmers

  

  The European Parliament voted to provide €300 million for a fund to help dairy farmers. Earlier in the week EU Farm Commissioner Fischer Boel had proposed a 280 million Euros support. The decision follows weeks of protests by thousands of farmers over the low price of milk, including the spraying of milk onto fields.