International

• Friday, August 14th 2009 - 05:03 UTC

  Agreement in principle to buy 55% of GM Opel and Vauxhall

  

  Magna and its Russian partner Sberbank have reached agreement in principle with General Motors management over a contract to buy 55% of GM's European unit Opel, Magna's co-CEO Siegfried Wolf told reporters.

• Friday, August 14th 2009 - 04:51 UTC

  The 48th anniversary of the Berlin Wall

  

  This week the German capital remembered a very different summer morning in 1961. On August 13 that year, the first barricades between the eastern and western halves of the city went up. Those barricades would eventually come to be known as the Berlin Wall, reports Germany’s Der Spiegel in its English on line version.

• Friday, August 14th 2009 - 02:58 UTC

  Indian-Russian consortium interested in YPF

  

  The Economic Times from Mumbai published on its online edition an article informing that Indian government owned energy company ONGC Videsh Ltd and its overseas investment branch, OVL, is having conversations with three Russian companies -Rosneft, Lukoil and Gazprom- for acquiring a substantial stake in YPF, the Argentine arm of Spanish oil major Repsol YPF SA.

• Friday, August 14th 2009 - 02:53 UTC

  France and Germany’s economies performances surprise Britain

  

  Lord Mandelson has defended the British Government's handling of the downturn after figures showed that France and Germany have already pulled out of recession. The French and German economies both grew by 0.3% between April and June - surprising analysts who had expected them to shrink.

• Thursday, August 13th 2009 - 20:36 UTC

  England Coach Bemoans 'Silly' Mistakes

  

  England's football coach Fabio Capello described the two goals conceded by his team, in a “friendly” international match against the Netherlands as 'silly mistakes'.

• Thursday, August 13th 2009 - 08:25 UTC

  WTO rules against China restrictions on US imports of DVD and media products

  

  The United States has won a ruling at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against China's restrictions on the import of American DVDs and other media products.

• Thursday, August 13th 2009 - 08:12 UTC

  UK unemployment at its highest since 1995; second quarter, 2.43 million

  

  The recession in the United Kingdom has claimed another 220,000 jobs in the three months to June to take the total number of unemployed to 2.43 million, official figures have revealed.

• Thursday, August 13th 2009 - 08:09 UTC

  Mining giant BHP Billiton profits slump 51% and sales 16%

  

  Annual profits at mining giant BHP Billiton have more than halved after demand for commodities slumped. The company has more than 100 operations across the world, including South America and the Falkland Islands.

• Thursday, August 13th 2009 - 08:02 UTC

  GM says Chevy Volt could top 230 miles-per-gallon

  

  General Motors officially unveiled the Volt, which according to the company can travel up to 40 miles on a single battery charge. The car will likely start production later this year. According to GM, the Volt will get city fuel economy of at least 230 miles-per-gallon, and come packaged with a flex fuel-powered engine-generator. The range of the Volt will be 300 miles, GM said.

• Thursday, August 13th 2009 - 07:49 UTC

  InterContinental Hotels report loss: “business remains elusive”

  

  The British group which manages InterContinental Hotels, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn revealed that it plunged into losses in the first six months of 2009 and forecast a “tough” second half as the recession keeps business travellers at home. That compares with a net profit of 163 million dollars in the same part of 2008.