An historic British china manufacturer: Midlands-based Royal Worcester & Spode Ltd, which dates back to 1751, employs 388 people in the UK at sites in Stoke-on-Trent, Lymedale and Worcester has gone into administration.
On Friday the Spanish Navy oceanographic vessel Las Palmas calls in Punta Arenas to officially begin Spain's Antarctic 2008/09 season. The vessel left from Cartagena last October 8 for the twelfth Antarctic season incursion and will be operating from Punta Arenas.
The head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) called for revising accounting and reporting standards to boost investor confidence amid the current global financial crisis, which he warned is spreading like a pandemic.
Great Britain has again brought up with Madrid the question on military restrictions imposed by Spain around Gibraltar, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.
The number of unemployed people in Spain in October reached a 12-year high of 11.3%, according to the Labour Ministry, the highest level in Europe.
The Bank of England slashed interest rates to a 53-year low in a dramatic attempt to rescue the UK economy from deep recession. The 1.5 percentage points cut by the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Thursday is the biggest single move since March 1981 and brings rates to levels not seen since 1955.
The European Central Bank cut interest rates by 50 basis points to 3.25% on Thursday and signalled another reduction was possible next month, as inflation pressures ease and the Euro zone faces its first recession.
The International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook (WEO) says prospects for global growth have deteriorated over the past month and will slow from 5% in 2007 to 3.75% this year and just over 2% in 2009.
A United Nations report released Tuesday shows that international seaborne trade surged to record levels last year but has since declined because of the financial crisis, jeopardizing the health of many developing countries, especially those that depend on commodities.
The World Trade Organization's French director-general Pascal Lamy will seek another four-year term heading the body that sets rules for global commerce.