International

• Sunday, June 21st 2009 - 11:28 UTC

  FAO forecasts second-highest record cereals crop for 2009/10

  

  With the second-highest recorded cereals crop expected this year and stocks replenished, the world food supply looks less vulnerable to shocks than it was during last year’s food crisis, FAO said in its Food Outlook report published this month. But some potential dangers remain, it also noted.

• Sunday, June 21st 2009 - 11:19 UTC

  Greenland moves to self-rule and closer to independence

  

  The Arctic island of Greenland is assuming self-rule, in the latest step towards independence from Denmark. The move follows a referendum on greater autonomy in November. It will see Greenland take a greater share of revenues from its natural resources.

• Sunday, June 21st 2009 - 11:14 UTC

  More than 50 British MPs claimed council taxes they did not pay

  

  British Members of Parliament are facing further embarrassment over their expenses as it emerged more than 50 had claimed for council tax they had not paid. Some have raked in thousands of pounds on “phantom” local authority bills, according to the Daily Telegraph.

• Saturday, June 20th 2009 - 16:52 UTC

  PM Gordon Brown: “I could walk away from this tomorrow”

  

  Gordon Brown has admitted that he has been “hurt” by the personal attacks on him during the failed attempt to oust him this month, and said that he might move to teaching after he leaves office.

• Saturday, June 20th 2009 - 08:19 UTC

  Dim lights of hope for the British auto industry

  

  Britain’s Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said the US government has given a “positive response” to his case for continued General Motors production in the UK.

• Saturday, June 20th 2009 - 08:15 UTC

  Switzerland struggling not to be listed “likely tax haven”

  

  Switzerland has agreed a new bilateral framework on sharing tax information with the United States, as it continues to ease its once strict banking secrecy. In March, the Swiss government announced that it would start to abide by the current global standards on sharing bank data.

• Saturday, June 20th 2009 - 08:11 UTC

  Expenses scandal: Scotland Yard begins criminal investigations

  

  A small number of British Members of Parliament and peers will face criminal investigations into allegations they misused their expenses. Scotland Yard said on Friday a joint assessment panel of senior detectives and prosecutors had decided full inquiries were necessary.

• Friday, June 19th 2009 - 08:00 UTC

  Bank of England clash with government over banking reform

  

  Bank of England governor and the Chancellor of the Exchequer have clashed on what needs to be done to control banks and prevent a repeat of the financial crisis. In his annual Mansion House speech to the City, Mervyn King called for more authority to intervene in the actions of banks seen to be behaving riskily.

• Friday, June 19th 2009 - 07:47 UTC

  British MPs four-year expenses database made public

  

  The expenses claims of every British Member of Parliament over the past four years have been published, after a string of scandals. Commons authorities say the database, which was due to be made public in July were posted online on Thursday.

• Thursday, June 18th 2009 - 14:29 UTC

  UK minister quits for allegedly avoiding to pay capital gains tax

  

  A British minister has quit the Government after allegations that she avoided paying up to £17,000 in capital gains tax by “flipping” her second home. Kitty Ussher said she had not done anything wrong, but was quitting as Exchequer Secretary to avoid causing “embarrassment” to Gordon Brown.