As part cost cutting measures aimed at tackling its debt crisis, Spain’s north-eastern region of Catalonia will soon be cutting down on its customary evening snacks for its prison inmates.
According to a regional justice department spokeswoman, who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, inmates will no longer receive evening snacks such as fruit or pastry.
The “super-rich” population in India – defined by having a minimum net worth of 250 million rupees ($5.6 million) – has grown by 30 percent to about 81,000 individuals over the last year, said a new study released this week as cited by the Wall Street Journal, with the combined net-worth of ultra-rich households now at 65 trillion rupees ($1.2 trillion).
The Indian government has enacted a $5.4 billion policy that will provide free medicine for its citizens by the end of this year, claimed a report by Reuters on Thursday, with up to half of India’s 1.2 billion population expected to take advantage of the scheme within the next five years.
According to the report, the plan was quietly adopted last year; but had not been publicised until initial funding could be allocated, officials said.
Whether it is to get a promotion, or to simply pay the bills, Americans workers put in some of the longest hours at work. However, how can we draw the line between productivity and workaholism, and how does the latter affect one’s health?
Since 1950, the average productivity per American worker has increased by 400 percent, but this achievement has come at a huge cost. As the following infographic will explain, workaholism has been linked to an increase in stress-related health issues, as well as a rise in marital problems.
The International Monetary Fund has pared its forecast for US economic growth this year, citing strains and risks from the eurozone debt crisis, as well as uncertainties over a “fiscal cliff” which could jeopardise the fragile economic recovery with negative spillovers to the rest of the world.
China’s government must adjust its one-child policy “as soon as possible” so as to deal with an aging population and a possible labour shortage, said a group of researchers from the State Council’s Development Research Centre (DRC) on Tuesday in an essay published on the China Economic Times.
Federal regulators in the U.S. have revealed the “living wills” of nine of the world’s largest banks, reported Reuters on Tuesday, with the “wills” detailing exactly how the government should dismantle the banks in the event of a potential collapse.
France’s national audit office has warned that the French economy must cut up to 43 billion euros in spending this year in order to meet its deficit targets. The audit findings are sobering for Hollande who was one of the toughest critics of Europe’s austerity drive as France turns to a mix of tax increases and spending cuts to balance its 2012 budget.
As the European Union embargo against Iranian crude came into full effect on Sunday, a defiant Tehran has responded by introducing a draft bill that would block oil tankers en route to countries that have sanctioned Iran from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has acted on its long-standing threat to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a water way through which about 17 million barrels a day sailed in 2011.
Fed up by the bureaucracy in their own country, a group of 30 fishermen from north-eastern China have now filed a lawsuit against ConocoPhillips in a U.S.-based federal court, reported the Associated Press on Monday, in the hopes of claiming compensation for two oil spills last year.
