International

• Sunday, October 19th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Suspended death sentence for corrupt Beijing vice mayor

  A former Beijing vice mayor in charge of overseeing Olympic construction projects has been given a suspended death sentence for corruption, a court said Sunday, in a stern warning to wayward Communist officials.

• Saturday, October 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Tourism industry starting to suffer global crisis says UN

  

  Global tourism is already feeling the effects of the financial crisis, slowing down over the northern summer this year, the United Nations tourism agency reports, warning that the industry could suffer a sharper downturn in the months ahead.

• Saturday, October 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Interest for nuclear energy growing world wide

  

  More than 50 countries have alerted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that they are considering utilizing nuclear power, announced this week the head of the United Nations body.

• Friday, October 17th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Spain banks “strong and solvent”, no need for rescue plan

  

  Spanish banks are strong and have solvency and do not need the government to take stakes in them, said Emilio Botin, the chairman of Spain's largest bank Santander.

• Friday, October 17th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Vital Voices Summit in Argentina honours Chile's Bachelet

  

  More than 300 women, successful entrepreneurs, leaders in their workplace with fierce personalities, in smart business suits or colourful artisanal dresses from Latin American and Caribbean countries such as Peru, Panama, Jamaica, Honduras, Guatemala, Bolivia all exuberant, all very feminine were recently at a conference at the Hilton Hotel in Buenos Aires: Vital Voices of the Americas: Women as a Bridge to a More Prosperous Future Summit for Latin America and the Caribbean. Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner addressed this gathering of government leaders, community and NGO advocates, and leading businesswomen.

• Friday, October 17th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  To ensure supply and price Asian steelers buy iron ore mines

  A consortium of five Japanese steelmakers and a South Korean trading firm will invest 3.1 billion US dollars to acquire 40% of a Brazilian iron ore mining company Mineiros S.A. to secure supplies of iron ore, trading house Itochu Corp. announced Friday.

• Friday, October 17th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Melting Arctic sees first vessel through Northwest Passage

  

  The German Institute Alfred Wegener said on Friday that a scientific expedition for the first time was able to navigate the fabled Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans along Arctic waters bordering Russia and North America because they were free of ice

• Thursday, October 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Speaking for EU Sarkozy calls for “new Bretton Woods summit”

  

  All 27 European Union states broadly support the bank rescue plan proposed for the bloc and the holding of a world finance summit, France's president has said.

• Thursday, October 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Chinese government recalls all dairy products over a month old

  

  The Chinese Government ordered this week the recall of all dairy products more than a month old in its latest move to contain the contaminated milk scandal that has triggered domestic and world-wide concern.

• Thursday, October 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Stiglitz describes financial crisis as a “social problem”

  

  Nobel laureate and renowned economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz described the current financial crisis not as a predominantly economic problem, but as a social one, citing the three million US citizens who have already lost their homes, with another two million expected to lose theirs over the next few months.