International

Friday, October 31st 2008 - 20:00 UTC
UN calls for continuation of cease fire in east Congo

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued on Friday a call for a continuation to the halt to fighting announced by rebel militia leader Laurent Nkunda, stressing the heavy humanitarian toll of the violence which has engulfed the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Heavy fine on BT for fixing MoD phone calls

BT has been forced to pay the UK Ministry of Defence £1.3m in compensation after some of its staff met call-answering targets by phoning each other. The Audit Commission found they fixed figures to help the company avoid fines for not answering calls quickly enough.
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
IMF announces 100 billion emergency fund; Argentina out

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is creating an emergency fund for emerging market economies to help them weather the global credit crisis. The Group of 24 developing countries, which includes nations from Latin America, Asia and Africa, had requested such a development earlier this month.
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Fed swap lines with Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore

The US Federal Reserve agreed on Wednesday to provide 30 billion US dollars each to the central banks of Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore, expanding its effort to unfreeze money markets to emerging nations for the first time.
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Rise of methane gas in atmosphere puzzles scientists

The amount of methane in Earth's atmosphere shot up in 2007, bringing to an end a period of about a decade in which atmospheric levels of the potent greenhouse gas were essentially stable, according to a team led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers.
Thursday, October 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
EU business and consumer confidence falls to 15-year low

Business and consumer confidence in the 15 nations of the Euro zone fell to a 15-year low in October, the European Commission said Thursday, as a credit crunch hits consumer spending and forces companies to shed jobs.
Wednesday, October 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Companies sign code of conduct committed to online free speech

Microsoft, Google and Yahoo have signed a global code of conduct promising to offer better protection for online free speech and against official intrusion. The Global Network Initiative follows criticism that companies were assisting governments in countries like China to censor the Internet.
Wednesday, October 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
WWW warns about incoming “ecological credit crunch”

Human demands on the world's resources are nearly a third more than what the earth can sustain, setting the stage for an “ecological credit crunch,” says a new report. The WWF's 2008 Living Planet Report, which offers a summery of the planet's health, says future generations will face a “crunch” if humans continue to amass an ecological deficit.
Tuesday, October 28th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Arctic icecap thinning faster than expected even in

British researchers have found that the Arctic icecap is now shrinking at an unprecedented rate even in winter, a development that could mean that the summer icecap may vanish within a decade.
Tuesday, October 28th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Chile asks G8 liquidity support for development banks

Chile called for a quick response from the international community in face of the global financial crisis and emphasized that country members from the G-8 should increase contributions to the Inter American Development Bank (BID) and to the Andean Promotion Corporation (CAF) thus helping with more liquidity for the region.