
The Arctic could hold as much as 90 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and has as much undiscovered gas as all the reserves known to exist in Russia, US government scientists have said in the first governmental assessment of the region's resources.

European cities dominate the worldwide rankings of locations with the best quality of living, according to Mercer's 2008 Quality of Living survey. Zurich retains its 2007 title as the highest ranked city followed jointly by Vienna (2), Geneva (2), then Vancouver (4) and Auckland (5).

The Euro is overvalued, while the US dollar's decline has brought it closer to its medium-term equilibrium in a decade, according to a top official from the International Monetary Fund.

Wheat, corn and soybean prices eased at the start of the week on news of favorable crop weather in the US and Europe along with Argentina's decision to repeal the export tax hike.

The first day of ministerial negotiations on global trade at this week's meeting in Geneva of the Trade Negotiations Committee harvested conflicting opinions about prospects for an agreement.
As rain continues to pour on Chile's central and southern regions this week, more than 1.200 people were forced to flee their towns in southern Chile, as of Thursday, when their homes were flooded.
Urgent changes in global agricultural policies are needed to meet the threats of soaring food and energy prices, the United Nations General Assembly President said on Friday.

Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday on concerns that a slowing US economy will decrease demand for oil. The price of crude oil in New York at one point fell more than 9 US dollars a barrel in New York trading, the biggest one-day drop in dollar terms in 17 years.

Global shares fell sharply during Tuesday on fears over the state of the US economy, with the Dow Jones index closing at its lowest level in two years.

Witanhurst, a 90-room Grade-II Queen Anne listed mansion in Highgate, sold for £23 million last year, only to see its value soar 56% in the last 12 months despite worries of falling house prices.