International

• Thursday, March 26th 2009 - 17:22 UTC

  “Absolutely legitimate” to discuss a new world currency

  

  International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Wednesday a discussion over China’s call for a new world currency is “absolutely legitimate” and is likely to take place in the coming months.

• Thursday, March 26th 2009 - 10:38 UTC

  PM Brown on world tour to prop support for G-20 consensus

  

  United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown has urged world leaders at next week's G20 summit to “take action” to reform the global banking system. The London summit must ensure “strong growth and recovery, and particularly jobs in the world economy”, he said.

• Thursday, March 26th 2009 - 10:36 UTC

  Sinking pound makes Gibraltar a shopping haven for Spaniards

  

  An article in the latest edition of the UK national daily ‘The Guardian’ describes Gibraltar as “a miraculous survivor in these days of international financial turmoil and sweeping recession, thanks to a sinking pound and an economy that grows at a rate comparable to that of China.”

• Thursday, March 26th 2009 - 05:26 UTC

  China promises Uruguay expanded trade and investments

  

  Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez left China Wednesday with promises of more investments and an increase in purchases of tops, wool, pulp, meat and fisheries, according to reports from the official press released in Beijing.

• Wednesday, March 25th 2009 - 17:45 UTC

  HMS Northumberland helped feed 2.5 million in Somalia

  

  Devonport-based frigate HMS Northumberland docked this week in her home city for the first time in six months. The ship returned from a grueling six month deployment which saw her crew tackle pirates and deliver humanitarian aid to war-torn Somalia, in Africa.

• Wednesday, March 25th 2009 - 17:35 UTC

  German president former IMF chief admits blame for global financial collapse

  

  German president Horst Köhler in the annual Berlin Speech addressed the global financial collapse but also accepted part of the blame for not having been able to introduce major reforms and regulations to financial markets when the was head of the International Monetary Fund (2000/2004).-

• Wednesday, March 25th 2009 - 12:20 UTC

  Berlusconi blames world recession on the “American influenza virus”

  

  Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, taking the controls of a new high-speed train on Tuesday, said Italy was well placed to emerge from the global economic downturn, --which he described as the American influenza--, but urged his countrymen to work harder.

• Wednesday, March 25th 2009 - 09:34 UTC

  Air transport industry under intensive care during 2009

  

  The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced a revised outlook for the global air transport industry with losses of 4.7 billion USD dollars in 2009. This is significantly worse than IATA’s December forecast for a 2.5 billion loss in 2009, reflecting the rapid deterioration of the global economic conditions.

• Wednesday, March 25th 2009 - 08:02 UTC

  Mercosur and EU preparing for a new round of negotiations

  

  Mercosur and the European Union reaffirmed their commitment to reach a wide ranging agreement, --in spite of stalled negotiations--, and to push for the conclusion of the World Trade Organization, WTO, Doha Round talks.

• Wednesday, March 25th 2009 - 07:56 UTC

  China suggests new global reserve currency to replace US dollar

  

  China's central bank has called for a new global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund to replace the US dollar. Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan did not explicitly mention the dollar, but said the crisis showed the dangers of relying on one currency.