International

• Wednesday, August 12th 2009 - 11:50 UTC

  Biggest gems heist in British history: £ 40 million

  

  Police are hunting robbers who stole items worth nearly £40m in what is believed to be the biggest gems heist in British history. Two smartly-dressed armed robbers stole jewellery worth almost £40 million from Graff Jewellers in London's West End last Thursday.

• Tuesday, August 11th 2009 - 12:13 UTC

  Repsol denies Chinese 17 billion USD offer for YPF

  

  Spain’s largest oil producer Repsol-YPF denied receiving an offer for its Argentine YPF unit following a report that Chinese companies had proposed buying its stake.

• Tuesday, August 11th 2009 - 11:10 UTC

  Oxford University warns against Tamiflu drug for children

  

  Children should not be given the anti-viral drug Tamiflu to combat swine flu, Oxford University researchers have said. They urged the United Kingdom Department of Health to urgently rethink its policy on giving the drugs to youngsters affected by the current flu pandemic.

• Tuesday, August 11th 2009 - 11:05 UTC

  Big Government and how Great Depression II was averted, by Paul Krugman

  

  Under the title of “Averting the worst” Nobel Prize Paul Krugman praised “Big Government” for having saved the United States (and the world) from a second Great Depression

• Monday, August 10th 2009 - 11:31 UTC

  Don’t forget UK troops in Falklands, says Conservative MP

  

  United Kingdom Defence chiefs should not let the war in Afghanistan distract them from the needs of other British soldiers around the world such as the Falkland Islands, warns a Tory MP.

• Monday, August 10th 2009 - 11:25 UTC

  Lloyds Banking Group considering how to limit government stake

  

  The UK part-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group may raise billions of pounds from shareholders to reduce its reliance on the taxpayer, it has been reported. The bank - which is 43% state-owned - is considering the move to avoid the £16 billion cost of placing billions in toxic debts into a taxpayer-backed insurance scheme, the Sunday Times reports.

• Monday, August 10th 2009 - 11:02 UTC

  Bidders have no plans to close plants or drop the Vauxhall brand

  

  One of the last two bidders in the running to buy Britain’s Vauxhall car maker has said it has no plans to close its two UK plants or drop the brand. Belgian investment group RHJ International is vying with Canadian firm Magna International to buy the European arm of ailing General Motors, which owns Germany's Opel as well as Vauxhall.

• Saturday, August 8th 2009 - 13:35 UTC

  UK reasserts authority over Gibraltar’s waters

  

  Defra, the United Kingdom’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has reasserted UK’s authority over Gibraltar waters and objects to Spain’s designation. The statement of position comes as the Foreign Office is expected to announce its position in relation to Gibraltar’s lawsuit against the European Commission in this respect.

• Friday, August 7th 2009 - 11:41 UTC

  Jobs outlook in China remains “very grave” warn officials

  

  China's job outlook remains “very grave” and could deteriorate further, a senior official has said. The government is under “enormous pressure” to create jobs, said Wang Yadong at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security

• Friday, August 7th 2009 - 11:34 UTC

  German icon of auto industry sees few signs of lasting recovery

  

  Germanys’ carmaker BMW has said it sees few signs of a lasting economic recovery after it reported profits down by three-quarters for the April to June period. Net profit was 121 million Euros, down 76% from a year ago, with car sales down by nearly a fifth.