International

• Monday, December 8th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  EU agrees on need to invest on digital infrastructure

  

  British PM Gordon Brown said more investment is needed in technology and environmentally friendly industries in an effort to tackle the downturn. Brown held Downing Street talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Jose Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission.

• Monday, December 8th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  MP Green office raid: Commons accuses ministers of contempt

  British Ministers were accused of treating the House of Commons with contempt as they sought to delay an inquiry into a police raid of an MP's parliamentary office, reports the London press.

• Monday, December 8th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  UK/Argentina talks to bury remains of pilot in Falklands

  

  Argentina and the United Kingdom are involved in negotiations for a humanitarian flight to the Falkland Islands to carry the remains of an Argentine pilot for his burial at the cemetery in Darwin, according to Monday reports in the Buenos Aires press.

• Sunday, December 7th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  British author named Artist for Peace by Unesco

  

  The prize-winning British children's author and illustrator Lauren Child has been selected as the latest Artist for Peace by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the agency announced.

• Thursday, December 4th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  British Airways exploring potential merger with Qantas

  

  British Airways announced it is exploring a potential merger with the Australian flag-carrier Qantas Airways. However BA warned there was “no guarantee that any transaction will be forthcoming”.

• Thursday, December 4th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Commons office raid: Home Secretary stands by the police

  

  United Kingdom's Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has defended the decision to call in the police to investigate leaks from the Home Office. In a Commons statement, Mrs Smith again insisted she had no prior knowledge that Tory frontbencher Damian Green was about to be arrested in connection with the inquiry.

• Thursday, December 4th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  ECB lowers rate to 2.5%, but cautions about further cuts

  

  European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet said on Thursday cutting interest rates too low or too fast could leave policy makers with few options to respond to a deepening recession.

• Thursday, December 4th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  President Sarkozy unveils 30 billion USD stimulus plan

  

  French President Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled Thursday a stimulus plan worth more than 30 billion USD to fight the economic and financial downturn. The French plan is the latest of a series of proposals by various European governments to earmark massive amounts of money to help reinvigorate their moribund economies.

• Wednesday, December 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  UN calls to prepare for disasters caused by climate change

  

  The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today launched a campaign to raise awareness of the humanitarian implications of climate change, calling for improved disaster preparedness and response measures in countries that suffer most from extreme weather events.

• Wednesday, December 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  UK launches OT offshore financial centres review

  

  The British Government announced that Michael Foot, currently Chairman of the UK office of Promontory Financial Group, will lead the independent review of British offshore financial centres, mostly in Overseas Territories, anticipated at Pre-Budget Report 2008.