International

• Thursday, April 23rd 2009 - 10:32 UTC

  Japan’s first annual trade deficit in 28 years

  

  Japan has reported its first annual trade deficit in 28 years, with exports in the year to March down 16% from the previous year. Total exports in February and March were half of what they had been a year earlier, the finance ministry said.

• Wednesday, April 22nd 2009 - 12:26 UTC

  Credit crunch losses in the range of 4 trillion USD warns IMF

  

  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned credit crunch losses could reach 4 trillion US dollars, damaging the financial system for years to come. It further warns that even if urgent action is taken to clean up the banking system, the process will be “slow and painful”, delaying economic recovery. Banks may need 1.7 trillion in additional capital, the IMF forecasts.

• Wednesday, April 22nd 2009 - 12:17 UTC

  Water levels in the world’s main rivers is declining, say meteorologists

  

  Water levels in some of the world's most important rivers have declined significantly over the past 50 years, US researchers say. They say the reduced flows are linked to climate change and will have a major impact as the human population grows.

• Wednesday, April 22nd 2009 - 02:00 UTC

  British government set to cut MPs “second home allowance”

  

  The controversial second home allowance for British members of Parliament could be axed within days after Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanded an urgent Commons vote on reforms.

• Wednesday, April 22nd 2009 - 00:42 UTC

  Spain calls on EU partners for greater interest in Latinamerica

  

  Spain’s Foreign Affairs minister Miguel Angel Moratinos has called on other members of the European Union to follow the example of United States and leave aside the lack of interest on having an intense relation with Latinamerica.

• Wednesday, April 22nd 2009 - 00:41 UTC

  Negative inflation in UK; first time since March 1960

  

  The UK has experienced its first period of deflation in almost 50 years. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation fell to minus 0.4% last month, down from 0% in February, the first negative reading since March 1960.

• Tuesday, April 21st 2009 - 16:25 UTC

  Britain's Queen Elizabeth II turns 83

  

  The monarch will be spending the day privately at Windsor Castle with the Duke of Edinburgh.

• Tuesday, April 21st 2009 - 08:32 UTC

  Keep slim, help fight climate change, says Epidemiology Journal

  

  Getting back to the relatively slim, trim days of the 1970s would help to tackle climate change, researchers say. The rising numbers of people who are overweight and obese in the UK means the nation uses 19% more food than 40 years ago, a study suggests.

• Monday, April 20th 2009 - 06:41 UTC

  UK crucial budget battle anticipated for next Wednesday

  

  British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling is attempting to boost confidence in the UK economy ahead of Wednesday's crucial Budget statement, despite claims the UK faces the longest recession since the Second World War.

• Sunday, April 19th 2009 - 04:49 UTC

  Climate change could reverse forests’ carbon absorption functions

  

  Forests' role as massive carbon sinks is “at risk of being lost entirely”, top forestry scientists have warned. The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) says forests are under increasing degrees of stress as a result of climate change.