International

• Wednesday, October 8th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Transport expert named to UK Overseas Territories

  

  Gillian Merron has been named United Kingdom Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, effective October 5. She joins the five-member ministerial team at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, led by Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

• Tuesday, October 7th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Confidence crisis and investor panic tsunami hits world

  

  Asian stock markets early Tuesday opened down sharply amid investor panic that global government action might not be enough to stem the financial crisis.

• Tuesday, October 7th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Airbus accident in flight has made an emergency landing

  

  A passenger plane has made an emergency landing in Western Australia after 40 people were injured following a “sudden change in altitude”, police have said.

• Tuesday, October 7th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  World Bank proposes steering group with emerging economies

  

  The Group of Seven is no longer effective and should be replaced by a steering group that includes new emerging economic powers like China, India and Brazil, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Monday.

• Tuesday, October 7th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  FAO underscores “opportunities and risks” of bio-fuels

  

  Global bio-fuel policies should be urgently reviewed to ensure that the world's poor benefit by ending trade-distorting subsidies favouring developed nations while countering the rise in food prices sparked by the diversion of foodstuff to energy production, according to a new United Nations report released today.

• Tuesday, October 7th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Australian markets react to sharp cut in interest rate

  

  Australia's central bank surprised financial market by cutting its key interest rate a full percentage point from 7% to 6%. The bank said the sharp cut was justified given the prospects for growth, even though inflation is currently above target.

• Monday, October 6th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Parliament consensus for a UK “balanced migration” policy

  British campaigners for a “balanced migration” policy welcomed hints from the Government's new immigration minister that he may seek limits on the number of migrants coming into the United Kingdom.

• Monday, October 6th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  UK fuel poverty expected to reach 3.5 m households

  

  British government attempts to tackle rising energy bills were accused of being in “meltdown” as the latest figures showed a million more households slipped into fuel poverty in 2006.

• Monday, October 6th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Irish “bail-out” rash rapidly extending to rest of Europe

  

  Germany offered a blanket bank deposit guarantee on Sunday in a bid to contain the spreading credit crisis as European officials clinched deals to rescue Germany's Hypo Real Estate and recapitalize two other European banks.

• Monday, October 6th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Nobel in Medicine to cancer linked discoveries: HPV, HIV

  

  This year's Nobel Prize in Medicine honors three Europeans who discovered viruses that cause deadly diseases, and whose findings have led to major medical advances.