Economic growth will slow in most European economies in 2008, with a number of countries vulnerable to tightening credit because of rapid rises in housing costs or high levels of private debt, the International Monetary Fund has reported.
Global banks are likely to loose up to 400 billion dollars stemming from mortgage investments that have soured in the US housing slump, according to an industry report. Major banks will have to continue to write off stricken multibillion investments in mortgage backed securities.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Antarctica on Friday to see firsthand the impact of climate change and the melting of glaciers.
World cereal prices are expected to stay high during the next year because of low global stocks, production problems and continued strong demand, according to the latest forecast of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), released Wednesday.
In anticipation of the International Year of Sanitation in 2008 and with more than 2.6 billion people – 40% of the world's population – lacking access to toilets and other sanitation facilities, the head of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme has urged governments to adopt low-cost technology to ensure adequate sanitation for all.
Stressing the continuing need to promote democratization, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, the General Assembly agreed to observe 15 September each year as the International Day of Democracy.
The International Court of Justice, ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, has essentially cleared its backlog of cases, the Court's President has told the General Assembly.
The Bank of England left UK interest rates unchanged at 5.75% for the fourth month running. The Thursday decision is likely to have been influenced by the surging oil price and the growing risk of inflation.
Despite the strength of the Euro which is closing on the 1.50 US dollar benchmark, the European Central Bank, ECB, left interest rates in the 13-nation Euro zone unchanged at 4% with a clear orientation towards maintaining price stability.
The communiqué on the meeting of the Forum of Dialogue on Gibraltar, between Spain, the United Kingdom and Gibraltar, which took place on November 5 and 6 in Castellar de la Frontera points out progress made in a long agenda of common issues.