Month: March 2011

March 3, 2011

Congress delays US government shutdown over budget cuts

The US Congress has passed a bill extending funding for the federal government by two weeks, staving off a possible government shutdown. It comes as politicians continue to tussle over Republican plans to cut federal domestic spending by a…

March 3, 2011

Brazil raises interest rates to 11.75%

Brazil's central bank has raised its key interest rate to 11.75% in a bid to hold down inflation in one of the world's fastest-growing economies. The rise, from 11.25%, is the second half-point increase since the start of the year. It is also the…

March 3, 2011

Serena Williams seeks summer return after emergency op

Wimbledon women's champion Serena Williams has…

March 3, 2011

Cricket World Cup: Brilliant Ireland shock England

Kevin O'Brien blazed the fastest century in Cricket World Cup history as Ireland pulled…

March 3, 2011

Libya: Spending oil money across the globe

In the span of a few years, Libya's financial tendrils have reached across oceans, across…

March 3, 2011

US Supreme Court allows anti-gay funeral protests

The US Supreme Court has ruled an anti-gay church has the right to picket military funerals under the US constitution's free speech protections. The court ruled 8-1 for the Westboro Baptist Church, throwing out an earlier $5m (£3m) judgement…

March 3, 2011

Ivory Coast: Power and water cut to pro-Ouattara north

Electricity and water have been cut to northern Ivory Coast - a region traditionally opposed to incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, the UN says. A UN official said the power company had said the supplies appears to have been cut for political…

March 3, 2011

Taliban: Pakistani minister killed over stance on blasphemy law

A Pakistani government minister who had said he was getting death threats because of his opposition to a controversial blasphemy law was shot to death Wednesday. Shahbaz Bhatti was the only Christian member of the Cabinet in Pakistan, where 95…

March 3, 2011

Nearly 260 Haitian migrants picked up at sea in Bahamas

Almost 260 Haitian migrants were apprehended by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force…

March 3, 2011

Hundreds of Caribbean teachers in a quandary in New York

Hundreds of teachers who left the Caribbean several years ago to work in New York are now in a quandary, since they were misled when recruited by New York City schools. A BBC Caribbean report stated that promises of “green cards” (legal…