International

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  British, Hungarian bird flu outbreaks linked

  

  Tests on H5N1 bird flu viruses found in Britain and Hungary showed they were genetically almost identical and the most likely transmission route was from poultry to poultry, Britain said yesterday.

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Bank of England hits of new interest rates rise

  

  The Bank of England has hinted that it is likely that interest rates will need to be increased once more to keep inflation in check, although analysts do not expect any rise to be imminent.
  The Bank's latest inflation report forecasts that consumer price inflation would continue to exceed the 2% target if rates stayed at 5.25%.

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Strong stock markets reactions to Fed's forecasts

  

  Stock markets in New York and most of Latinamerica set new record gains on Wednesday following US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke statements that the US economy should grow modestly in 2007 despite a slowdown in housing.

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Where do rich countries' children fare worse? US & UK

  

  United States and Britain ranked at the bottom of a U.N. survey of child welfare in 21 wealthy countries that assessed everything from infant mortality to whether children ate dinner with their parents or were bullied at school.

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Nisshin Maru Japanese whaling ship catches fire

  

  Japanese whaling ship has caught fire near Antarctica, leaving one crew member missing and raising fears of environmental damage.

• Tuesday, February 13th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Oil production costs rise 53%

  

  The cost of producing oil and gas has risen about 53 percent in the past two years, and the trend is expected to continue this year, according to a report released yesterday.

• Tuesday, February 13th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Shipowners order US$105.5B of new vessels in 2006

  

  According to London-based Clarkson, the world's biggest shipbroker, shipowners ordered new vessels worth a record US$105.5 billion in 2006. The trend has been spurred by tanker owners keen to upgrade their fleets ahead of IMO single-hull tanker deadlines that kick in at the end of the decade, according to an article published by Gulf News.

• Tuesday, February 13th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Eurozone growth surprises all 2006 forecasts: 2.7%

  

  Eurozone growth ended 2006 strongly, thanks to better-than-expected growth in Germany and recovery in Italy. Gross domestic product across the 13 countries that use the euro grew 0.9% between October and December, compared with the previous three months.

• Tuesday, February 13th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Deep sea giant squid flash blinding light to attack prey

  

  Enormous deep-sea squid emit blinding flashes of light as they attack their prey, research shows. Taningia danae's spectacular light show was revealed in video footage taken in deep waters off Chichijima Island in the North Pacific and reported by BBC.

• Monday, February 12th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Spain accepts Gibraltar phone code and travel documents

  

  Telephone calls between Spain and Gibraltar have gone international, following the acceptance by Spain from this weekend of Gibraltar's international dialling code, reported the local press.