International

• Sunday, January 6th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Cooling inflation, China's central bank main task for 2008

  

  China's central bank said it will take more steps this year to cool inflation and prevent the world's fastest growing major economy from overheating. A “tighter monetary policy” will “help prevent the economy from overheating and prevent price increases from spreading”, the central bank said in a statement last week after concluding a two-day annual work meeting in Beijing.

• Sunday, January 6th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Euro-zone inflation challenges ECB monetary policy

  

  Record oil prices and continuing high food costs kept Euro zone inflation at 3.1% in December, reported the European Central Bank (ECB).

• Sunday, January 6th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Antarctic marathoners return triumphant from Antarctic feat

  

  Two Americans from Kansas City fulfilled their goal of running a marathon in one of the coldest places in the world, Antarctica. The feat was completed last December leaving for Antarctica from Punta Arenas and returning back home on Christmas Day, reports the Kansas press.

• Sunday, January 6th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Prepare for one of the top hottest year on record say experts

  

  World temperatures will cool slightly this year but 2008 will remain among the top 10 hottest years on record (since 1850), predicted British weather experts and the University of East Anglia.

• Saturday, January 5th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  OPEC anticipates higher oil prices during first quarter

  

  OPEC president Chakib Khelil said on Saturday that the organization is supplying the international market with enough crude but can't be blamed for record prices. But he anticipated oil prices can be expected to keep rising during the first quarter of this year before stabilizing in the following quarter.

• Friday, January 4th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Conservationists condemn Alaskan Ocean oil drilling

  

  Environmental groups have expressed outrage over a decision by the US government to open a huge area off Alaska's northwest coast for oil drilling.

• Thursday, January 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  OPEC warns oil prices could climb even higher

  

  Oil prices hovered on the record 100 US dollars a barrel even after Indonesia OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) governor Maizar Rahman said the cartel has the capability to increase production by 500,000 barrels a day in the coming February meeting. However he warned that oil prices could climb even higher.

• Thursday, January 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  China's forecasts for 2008: 10.8% growth and inflation 4.5%

  China's economy is forecasted to expand two digits for the sixth consecutive year in a context of inflation, which was record in a decade in 2007, reported this week the Shanghai Securities News, quoting a government think-tank.

• Wednesday, January 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Pope calls peace 'divine gift' in New Year's mass

  

  Peace is a “divine gift,” Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday in his traditional New Year's Day mass, stressing the role of the family as an agent of peace.

• Wednesday, January 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Stomach bug downs passengers on 'cursed' ship

  

  Cunard's £300 million MS Queen Victoria - which was officially launched by Camilla in Southampton three weeks ago when she failed to successfully smash the champagne bottle on its side - has been struck by a potentially fatal stomach bug.