International

• Monday, January 5th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Sir Alan Walters: “radical, fearless, the finest of friends”

  

  Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's influential economics adviser, Sir Alan Walters, has died aged 82. Sir Alan's return as an adviser led in 1989 to the resignation of Chancellor Nigel Lawson, with whom he had clashed over the exchange rate mechanism (ERM).

• Monday, January 5th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Doha hangover: Lamy unopposed for his second WTO mandate

  

  The current director-general of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy, is the only candidate for the position. He was the only candidate when nominations closed on 31 December.

• Monday, January 5th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Record rice crop and stabilized prices for 2009

  

  The world can expect another record crop of rice totalling 640 million tons, equivalent to 434 million tons of the elaborate grain, according to a report from Uruguay's Rice Planters association.

• Thursday, January 1st 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Pope Says Global Crisis a Test for Future

  Pope Benedict marked World Day for Peace and the feast of Mary Mother of God Thursday appealing for a reworking of the global financial system and a spiritual and moral revolution that puts solidarity for the poor in pride of place.

• Tuesday, December 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Petrol price reached three-year low in United Kingdom

  

  The price of petrol has reached a three-year low in the United Kingdom, according to the Automobile Association and reported in the London press. The average cost of petrol at the beginning of this week was 87.79p a litre compared with 88.27p at the end of December 2005.

• Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Foreign tourists' arrivals in Spain fall 11.6% in Nov.

  Arrivals of foreign tourists to Spain, the world's second biggest tourist destination, plummeted in November as top customers Britons and Germans stayed at home during the global economic slowdown.

• Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  EU Court rules airlines must compensate for technical problems

  Airlines must pay compensation to passengers whose flights are cancelled because of technical problems with the plane, European judges ruled this week.
  
  The only exception, said the European Court of Justice, is if the technical problems are caused by “extraordinary” events outside the normal activities of the airline - such as terrorism or sabotage or a hidden manufacturing fault which suddenly comes to light.

• Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Warning of fake Colgate toothpaste in UK main chain stores

  Thousands of tubes of fake Colgate toothpaste have been recalled by Britain's main chain stores Sainsbury's and Boots. Both stores have contacted customers directly and put up notices in shops concerning the counterfeit product sold between 28 November and 5 December.

• Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Origin of Species controversy on Darwin's bicentennial

  As the scientific world prepares to mark Charles Darwin's bicentenary, the author of On the Origin of Species is facing accusations of plagiarism and unjustly claiming credit as the father of evolutionary theory.

• Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Higher EU rates confirm sterling parity with Euro

  

  The British pound's relentless slide towards parity with the Euro picked up pace after it plunged to another record low against the single European currency. The latest slide saw sterling worth just 1.022 Euros amid expectations for European interest rates to remain higher than in the UK for some time yet.