Japan’s annual inflation rate slipped by 0.1 per cent in 2012, showed the latest government data on Friday, placing further pressure on its central bank to introduce greater monetary stimulus following the fourth straight year of sliding consumer prices.
Transport employees working for Athens’ subway system have been ordered to call off an eight-day old strike over a lower pay structure, reported Reuters on Thursday, after the government invoked an emergency anti-strike legislation that would see any remaining strikers either arrested or laid-off.
On the technology-heavy Nasdaq index, shares of internet giant Google Inc gained 6 percent in early trading on Wednesday after posting improved quarterly profits. Since going public in 2004 the company has grown tremendously, passing the $50 billion revenue mark for the first time last year.
Despite lingering concerns about its transition to mobile, Google ended 2012 with a strong fourth quarter. As the company reported yesterday, full-year revenues topped $50 billion for the first time last year, while full-year profits soared to new highs of $10.75 billion.
British Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Wednesday that he will offer British citizens a vote on whether to stay in the European Union – provided he wins a second term – adding that while Britain did not want to retreat from the union, public disillusionment with the European project was at an “all-time high”.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday announced power rate cuts of between 18-32 percent in order to slow down inflation, reported Reuters, giving a much-needed boost to consumers and industries, who have seen inflation rise to as much as 6.02 percent this month.
Sudan will block any attempt made by South Sudan to export oil to Israel via Sudanese territory, said a member of the ruling National Congress Party’s (NCP) on Wednesday, criticising Juba for compromising ongoing peace talks between the two neighbours, by signing independent contracts prematurely.
In a move aimed at pressuring the Senate, which has not debated a budget since 2009, members of the Republican-controlled House are threatening to bring to vote a debt measure to withhold pay for either House or Senate members if the chamber in which they serve fails to pass a budget plan by April.
Sixteen Chinese firms that won a second round of auction for exploration rights for shale gas have pledged to invest a total of 12.8 billion yuan ($2.06 billion) over the next three years, according to a report by Xinhua.
The 16 Chinese companies, which include 14 state-owned firms, are part of a larger group of 57 companies that were awarded in October rights to explore 19 shale gas blocks, the Ministry of Land and Resources said on Monday.
France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy had plans to create a $1.6 billion hedge fund in London in order to escape his successor’s proposed 75 percent tax on the wealthy, claimed a report by the Daily Mail on Tuesday, after corruption investigations into Sarkozy last year uncovered details on “secret preparations” for the new venture.
Russia’s defence industry exported a record $15.16 billion worth of weapons and military equipment to foreign countries in 2012, claimed officials this week, beating a previous forecast set in late-December and cementing the nation’s position as the world’s second largest arms exporter after the U.S.
