Forex / World news

"I think it is possible that we leave this summit with a commitment on the part of everyone to a serious reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050 that is of the order of the type of figure the Europeans have been talking about," Blair said."What you won't get is an agreement here and now...

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany (Thomson Financial) - President George Bush urged Russia not to "hyperventilate" over US plans for a missile defence shield ahead of a key meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin that is set to dominate the first full day of the Group of Eight summit here...

A UK official said yesterday that while the country is still in favour of a firm target, any UN-sponsored process "should not be a straitjacket"."The important thing is that we come out of the summit with a process," a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair told reporters travelling with Blair en route to Germany...

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany (Thomson Financial) - Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart George Bush will tackle deteriorating East-West relations at the G8 leaders' summit.Putin, attending his last Group of Eight summit before leaving office in 2008, finds himself the odd man out in Germany, amid angry rows over Russian human rights, trade, and a US plan for a missile defence shield in Europe...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The G8 appears to be close to backtracking on its pledge to provide universal access to treatment for those suffering from AIDS at its summit in Germany, the Financial Times reported.The business daily said that summit documents it obtained, dated June 1, showed that the Group of Eight industrialised nations are now aiming to help "over the next few years...

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman said that while the UK is still in favour of a firm target on cutting greenhouse gases, the most favoured route of a UN-sponsored process "should not be a straitjacket'."The important thing is that we come out of the summit with a process," he told reporters travelling with Blair enroute to Germany...

GENEVA (Thomson Financial) - Top industrialised nations must focus now on reaching a global trade deal or risk seeing the chance slip away, the World Trade Organisation director-general Pascal Lamy warned today.Lamy said he would send a "strong message" to the leaders of the G8 nations not to let a deal "slip through our fingers" when he addresses the "extended meeting" at the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm tomorrow...

HEILIGENDAMM (Thomson Financial) - European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso urged G8 members to act "under one umbrella" in the fight against climate change.Speaking here, the president welcomed US President Bush's announcement expressing a "strong desire" to work on a 'post-Kyoto' agreement on tackling climate change...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - A top China official said Beijing will not meddle with Hong Kong's successful capitalist system but nor will it back a quick switch to full democracy in the territory.The chairman of China's national congress, Wu Bangguo, said the "high degree of autonomy" guaranteed under Hong Kong's Basic Law is one of the keys to the territory's continued success...

ROSTOCK, Germany (Thomson Financial) - The Group of Eight summit final communique will not set long-term targets for cutting the emissions that cause global warming, an advisor to US President George W. Bush said today.Combatting climate change is the number one objective set by G8 host Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany...

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - The European Central Bank raised its key interest rates, hiking the minimum bid rate on its main refinancing operations to 4.00 pct from 3.75 pct.The decision was taken at today's meeting of the ECB governing council and was fully expected by financial markets...

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Thomson Financial) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas are expected to attend a June 25 meeting in Egypt of the four major sponsors of the stalled Middle East peace process, the Palestinian foreign minister said today...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - A summary of Asian economic and corporate news at 1000 GMTJAPAN:-Japan April leading index 20.0 vs 33.3 in March, coincident index 66.7 vs 9.1-Sony sees over 100 bln yen opg profit from TV business in 'about 2 years'-Sony spending 60 bln yen on increasing output of imaging sensors-NTT Communications to sell 5 pct stake in ADSL operator Acca to US fund-Marubeni in talks with UAE govt on power/water projectHONG KONG:-Wheelock Properties yr to March net profit 1...

HEILIGENDAMM (Thomson Financial) - German chancellor Angela Merkel has called on G8 leaders to give the fight against climate change "new impetus" and called for decisive action, in a guest article in the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel."In Heiligendamm we want to give new impetus to the negotiations on global climate protection," Merkel wrote...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - UK Prime Minister-designate Gordon Brown has signalled that private equity companies could soon be facing increased taxes as part of a far-reaching government review, according to a report in The Times.The report quotes Brown responding to calls from the GMB trade union for an end to private equity tax breaks...

LONDON - Tony Blair will today fly to Germany for his last G8 summit as British leader looking to secure further consensus on climate change and keep up the momentum on the world trade talks.British officials are adamant that the serious cooling of relations with Russia over the siting of a US missile defence system within the EU will not deflect from the main agenda...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - UK prime minister Tony Blair said he plans to have a "frank discussion" with Russian president Vladimir Putin at the G8 summit, amid rising tensions between the West and Moscow.Blair, speaking hours before heading to Germany for the meeting of the Group of Eight industrialised nations, said he would broach both Putin's latest comments on a planned US missile shield and the killing of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko in London...

BUDAPEST (Thomson Financial) - Hungary's Constitutional Court today ruled that right-wing opposition parties can hold a referendum on Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's unpopular economic reform programme, dealing a fresh blow to an already shaky government coalition...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - France's new president Nicolas Sarkozy has urged Gordon Brown, who is set to become the UK's Prime Minister in three weeks time, to leave behind his "outmoded" views on the EU, the Financial Times reports today.Speaking to the newspaper and others, Sarkozy said Brown has "advanced and modernised" the UK's economy over the last decade, but added that he hopes that "in moving from number 11 to number 10 Downing Street he understands that Europe is not outmoded"...

LISBON (Thomson Financial) - France will not agree to any deal in the World Trade Organisation's Doha Round of international trade negotiations unless it is based on "reciprocity and balance", agriculture minister Christine Lagarde said.Persistent disagreements, notably on trade in agricultural products, have blocked progress in the Doha Round, launched in the Qatari capital in late 2001 and at the time expected to be concluded by late 2004...