International

• Tuesday, April 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Sub-prime crisis costs top Swiss bank 37 billion US dollars

  

  Swiss financial giant UBS has reported that its write-downs as a result of the sub-prime crisis have more than doubled to about 37 billion US dollars. It is the largest write-down by any bank since the credit crunch began.

• Tuesday, April 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Ministry of Defence praises RAF on its 90th anniversary

  

  Britain's Under Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans at the Ministry of Defence Derek Twigg paid tribute to the Royal Air Force on its 90th anniversary praising the “professionalism and bravery” of all the men and women who have served in the RAF since April first 1918.

• Monday, March 31st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  British Airways £4.5 billion Chaos Terminal in Heathrow

  

  British Airways' passengers are this morning waking up to news that 54 flights at Heathrow's Terminal Five have been cancelled, with the airline admitting it could not predict when the crisis would end.

• Monday, March 31st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Environmentalist call for curb on Antarctic shipping

  

  Environmental campaigners are calling for greater restrictions on shipping around Antarctica in order to prevent damage to its unique ecosystems.

• Monday, March 31st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  WTO rules against EU import ban of beef with hormones

  

  The World Trade Organization on Monday backed United States and Canadian arguments against the European Union's import ban on beef treated with hormones.

• Sunday, March 30th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Lights out in climate change event

  

  Sydney was the first major city to begin “Earth Hour”, when at 2000 (0900 GMT), lights went out on landmarks like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

• Sunday, March 30th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Rice consumption forecasted to outpace production in 2008

  

  World consumption of rice continues to rise and outpace production and the trend will continue in 2008, bringing with it a host of factors that will impact rice producers said Carl Brothers senior vice president of Riceland Foods.

• Sunday, March 30th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF Board supports overhaul and shift in voting power

  

  The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommended on Friday an overhaul of the institution's governance structure that will realign quota and voting shares of member countries with their relative weight and role in the global economy thus enhancing the participation and voice of emerging market and low-income countries in the 185-member IMF.

• Sunday, March 30th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Vietnam limits rice exports; China boosts pay to farmers

  

  Vietnam became the latest rice-producing country to limit exports of the grain and China announced on Friday higher payments to farmers both rice and wheat in an attempt to boost crop production and cool surging inflate

• Sunday, March 30th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Muslims outnumber Catholics worldwide reveals Vatican

  

  Islam has overtaken Roman Catholicism as the biggest single religious denomination in the world, the Vatican said on Sunday. Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, who compiled the Vatican's newly-released 2008 yearbook of statistics, said Muslims made up 19.2% of the world's population and Catholics 17.4%.