International

• Thursday, June 25th 2009 - 17:00 UTC

  UK cocaine capital of Europe; one in 100 Londoners “problem drug user”

  

  The United Kingdom is the cocaine capital of Europe, the United Nations has said. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime said the UK was Europe's largest cocaine market - with more than one million regular users.

• Wednesday, June 24th 2009 - 08:00 UTC

  South African airways adds flights to Buenos Aires

  

  South African Airways (SAA) has added capacity to its African network in keeping with its African strategy, while strengthening its network with additional flights from Perth, Western Australia and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

• Wednesday, June 24th 2009 - 07:58 UTC

  Criminal charges for MPs who make false allowances claims

  

  British Members of Parliament who make false allowances claims could face criminal charges under new measures announced by Commons Leader Harriet Harman. She said the Parliamentary Standards Bill would create new criminal offences as well as establishing an independent body to oversee a reformed system of MPs' pay and perks.

• Wednesday, June 24th 2009 - 03:57 UTC

  South Atlantic sanctuary on bargaining table of Whaling Commission

  

  Peace talks on whales and whaling are to continue for a further year. Delegates to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) annual meeting in the Portuguese island of Madeira agreed it was worth extending reform talks that began a year ago

• Tuesday, June 23rd 2009 - 11:14 UTC

  Tory named Speaker of the House of Commons

  

  Britain’s opposition Conservative Member of Parliament Tory John Bercow won the race to replace Michael Martin as Speaker of the House of Commons. Mr Bercow, MP for Buckingham, topped all three secret ballots - beating his only challenger in the third round, Sir George Young - by 51 votes.

• Tuesday, June 23rd 2009 - 08:04 UTC

  Roubini: risk of double dip recession in advanced economies

  

  The influential economist Nouriel Roubini, who rose to prominence for predicting the global credit crisis, said there is a risk that advanced economies will suffer a double dip recession and pointed out he saw more signs of “yellow weeds” than the green shoots of economic recovery.

• Monday, June 22nd 2009 - 12:24 UTC

  Net private capital inflow to developing countries falls to half in 2008

  

  Amidst global economic recession and financial-market fragility, net private capital inflows to developing countries fell to 707 billion US dollars in 2008, a sharp drop from a peak of 1.2 trillion in 2007. International capital flows are projected to fall further in 2009, to 363 billion US dollars, according to the latest report from the World Bank.

• Monday, June 22nd 2009 - 12:20 UTC

  Agriculture showing more resilience to economic crisis

  

  Because food is a basic necessity, the agriculture sector is showing more resilience to the global economic crisis than other industries. But the risks could increase if the economic downturn deepens, according to a new report by the OECD and FAO released this week.

• Monday, June 22nd 2009 - 12:14 UTC

  Enough stimulus packages, there’s a limit to debt, warns Trichet

  

  Europe's central bank chief on Sunday cautioned against any new government stimulus plans and predicted the global economy will pick up in 2010. But he also warned it would be a mistake to believe that recovery is a foregone conclusion.

• Monday, June 22nd 2009 - 12:11 UTC

  Chavez calls on the world to “respect” the Iran regime and Islamic revolution

  

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez openly supported the Iran regime and called for “respect” for the country and an end to attempts “to erode the strength of the Iranian revolution”.