Canada
in Arctic show of strength - 16 August
Canada is launching a series of military exercises in the Arctic
far-north region of the country. The so-called sovereignty operation
is designed to show a visible presence in the resource-rich area,
amid competing claims among other nations. - BBC
News website
Finance
Joint
call for bank bonus rules - 3 September
The Group of 20 richest nations must adopt "binding rules"
to regulate bank behaviour, the leaders of the UK, France and
Germany have said. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President
Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel made the
comments in a joint letter. They also agreed to explore ways of
limiting bonuses at banks to prevent future financial meltdowns. The
leaders also said banks could not go on as if the crisis never
happened. - BBC News website
The
international bank rule that almost destroyed the world - 3
September
Martin Jacomb gets to the heart of one of the least understood
aspects of the bubble that broke the banks : why banks bought and
held so much securitized debt. Under one now-discredited theory,
banks made so many toxic mortgage because they could securitize them
and offload the risk to others. But this doesn't explain very well
why the banks wound up with so much of the toxic securities on their
balance sheet. - The
Business Insider website
Trade
and Industry
Trade
ministers head for fresh Doha talks - 31 August
World trade ministers meet in the Indian capital this week for a
fresh round of talks aimed at building momentum to conclude the
long-stalled Doha Round of global free-trade talks. The World Trade
Organisation (WTO) negotiations began in 2001 with the aim of
boosting global commerce to help developing countries, but deadlock
between the major trading blocs has dashed repeated attempts to
forge a new pact. - Business
Report website
Doha
trade talks in end-game : Australian Minister - 2 September
The World Trade Organisation's Doha round to free up trade is nearly
complete and world leaders are clearly voicing the political will to
reach a deal next year, Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said
on Wednesday. Crean's comments, ahead of a meeting hosted by India
this week of some 35 Trade Ministers to advance the talks, were key
because negotiators will not put all their cards on the table and
reach a deal until they are convinced the negotiations, now in their
eighth year, have reached the final stage. - Creamer
Media's Engineering News website
Ruling
due in planemaker dispute - 4 September
The World Trade Organization (WTO) will rule later on the biggest
trade dispute in its history - between aircraft manufacturers Boeing
and Airbus. The US has accused the EU of handing out illegal
subsidies to Airbus, and the WTO is widely expected to agree.
However, the EU has made a counter claim against the US for its
support of Boeing. A ruling on that claim is due in the next six to
eight months. - BBC News
website