International

• Tuesday, March 24th 2009 - 13:26 UTC

  EC expected to act on countries swelling budget deficits

  

  The European Commission is expected to set deadlines on Tuesday for France, Greece, Ireland, Spain and the UK to rein in their swelling budget deficits. Under EU rules, countries are expected to keep their budget shortfalls below 3% of gross domestic product (GDP).

• Tuesday, March 24th 2009 - 13:19 UTC

  WTO forecasts 9% drop in global trade volume in 2009

  

  Global trade will experience its biggest annual drop in more than 40 years this year, the World Trade Organization said Monday. In its annual trade outlook, the WTO said that the economic recession will cut the desire for the countries to do business with one another in 2009, slicing the actual volume of exports by 9%.

• Tuesday, March 24th 2009 - 13:09 UTC

  Gibraltar Tripartite talks a “model” for dispute management

  The Gibraltar Tripartite Forum model, with all parties having their own voice and with an open agenda for discussion, provides a mechanism for the management (if not the resolution) of any dispute. That is one of the conclusions reached by Professor Peter Gold of the University of West England in a recent academic article on the Gibraltar ‘problem’.

• Tuesday, March 24th 2009 - 07:12 UTC

  Uruguayan president in China to promote trade and investments

  

  Visiting Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao called Monday for “firm results” from the coming G-20 summit in London next week according to reports in the official Chinese press.

• Tuesday, March 24th 2009 - 05:30 UTC

  Monaco prime property averaged 55.000 Euros per sq. meter in 2008

  

  Monaco has the most expensive prime property in the world, costing an average of 55.000 Euros per square metre in 2008 for the best properties. But the prices for prime properties throughout the world are coming under pressure from the credit crunch, according to the latest Knight Frank Prime International Residential Index.

• Monday, March 23rd 2009 - 13:30 UTC

  UK auto industry calls for “scarappage scheme”

  

  British Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said that UK motor companies will survive “if they take the right decisions” despite another huge monthly fall in car production. Official figures showed the number of cars made in the UK last month fell 59% compared with February 2008, while commercial vehicle production slumped by 71.6%.

• Monday, March 23rd 2009 - 13:29 UTC

  Airlines mishandled 42 million bags in 2007, says consumer watchdog

  

  Airlines mishandled 42 million bags worldwide in 2007 compared to 30 million in 2005 according to the Air Transport Users Council. The consumer watchdog for the airline industry recalled that airlines primary duty to passengers is to put into place systems that will mean they mishandle as few bags as possible.

• Monday, March 23rd 2009 - 08:31 UTC

  Cristina/PM Brown’s meeting to discuss Falklands’ impacts UK press

  

  The coming Friday meeting in Chile of Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner with Prime Minister Gordon Brown allegedly to address the Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute has had headlines’ impact in Britain.

• Saturday, March 21st 2009 - 09:08 UTC

  G-20 members agree on banking regulation and loans to IMF

  

  G-20 nations have agreed to develop principles to regulate the banking sector and to make 100 billion US dollars in loans available to the International Monetary Fund to support the developing world according to British government sources.

• Friday, March 20th 2009 - 10:11 UTC

  IMF calls on G20 to bolster demand and more concerted policies

  

  Despite major stimulus packages announced by advanced economies and several emerging markets, trade volumes have shrunk rapidly, while production and employment data suggest that global activity continues to contract in the first quarter of 2009, the IMF said in a new assessment of the global economy.