International

• Tuesday, November 4th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Spanish civil war descendents can apply for citizenship

  

  Descendants of people who fled Spain during the country's civil war are to be allowed to apply for citizenship. The decision will allow an estimated 500,000 children and grandchildren of civil war-era exiles to seek to return.

• Tuesday, November 4th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Profits down 34% at Marks & Spencer

  Marks & Spencer's half-year profits have fallen by a third after sales suffered in the toughest conditions to hit the retailer since the early 1990s.

• Tuesday, November 4th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  World Bank official warns on soaring number of poor in 09

  

  The world financial crisis influenced by the high prices of food and fuel will cause global growth to drop 1 to 2%, together “with the emergence of millions of poor, a new underclass”, according to a top official from the World Bank.

• Tuesday, November 4th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Fitch predicts steepest GDP decline in leading countries

  

  In its latest Global Economic Outlook, Fitch Ratings predicts that the world's major advanced economies - US, UK, Euro Zone and Japan - will experience in 2009 the steepest decline in GDP since World War II. In aggregate GDP growth in these countries is expected to be (minus) -0.8% in 2009, compared to an estimated 1.1% for 2008. Tighter credit conditions, consumer retrenchment and falling corporate investment are expected to combine to deliver an unusually synchronised downturn across the advanced economies.

• Monday, November 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  UN convoy of food and medicine for displaced Congolese

  

  United Nations is to send a convoy of food and medical supplies to help the 250,000 people displaced by recent fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It will be the first aid in a week for those stranded in areas controlled by renegade Gen Laurent Nkunda's forces.

• Monday, November 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Prince Charles: rich countries should pay annual “utility bill”

  

  Britain's Prince Charles has called for rich countries to pay an annual “utility bill” for the benefits given to the world by its rainforests. Speaking in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, the prince called rainforests the “world's greatest public utility”. They act as an air conditioner, store fresh water and provide work, he said.

• Monday, November 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  EU in recession: 0.1% growth in 09 and 0.9% in 2010

  

  European Union finance ministers on Monday opened in Brussels two days of talks aimed at coordinating proposals for a new global financial order while prospects for the EU real economy continued to deteriorate.

• Monday, November 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  IMF says China remains “robust” but '09 is “difficult year”

  

  China's economy will slow but should remain relatively strong and help to support the rest of Asia, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday, predicting a very difficult year for the global economy in 2009.

• Sunday, November 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Archaeologists find evidence of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe

  Archaeologists uncovered what they think is evidence of the campsite of a ship-wrecked sailor said to be the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. The archaeologists' findings were published in the journal Post-Medieval Archaeology.

• Saturday, November 1st 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  After massive package, Japan lowers rate to 0.3%

  

  The Bank of Japan has cut its main interest rate from 0.5% to 0.3% - its first reduction for seven years. The move followed a global wave of rate cuts to contain the financial crisis. Japan has the lowest interest rates in the developed world.