Gold hit a record high for the fourth day in a row on Monday, boosted by growing expectations for U.S. interest rates to remain exceptionally low as the economy struggles, while silver came in range of 30-year peaks. Data on Friday showed Americans were at their most pessimistic in over a year this month, as

The European Commission said on Monday it intends to use a its plan to reform financial markets to rein in speculation on commodities markets, notably by reinforcing controls and extend the market abuse legislation. The European Commissioner in charge of financial reform services Michel Barnier made the announcement in the opening speech of a conference

Pakistan's agriculture industry — a pillar of the economy — could take up to two years to start recovering from devastating summer floods, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Monday. The ADB and the World Bank are assessing the damage caused by one of Pakistan's worst natural disasters, which destroyed 1.3 mln hectares of

German officials met internet firms on Monday to try to reconcile Germany's strict data protection rules with programmes like Google's "Street View" mapping system, as calls for regulation intensify. Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner, who has clashed with social networking site Facebook over its handling of user data, told a newspaper she expected tougher legislation

Despite a weak post-crisis balance sheet and challenging economic outlook, the UK is able to meet these challenges whilst maintaining its Aaa credit rating, Moody's Investors Service said in its annual credit report on the UK. The rating therefore retains a stable outlook. "The global financial crisis of 2008-09 caused serious long-term damage to the

President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias has said that Turkey was not ready for a solution of the Cyprus problem by the end of the year but assured that he would continue negotiations with the Turkish Cypriot side to reach a settlement. He noted that Turkey holds the key for a solution of

The UN Secretary-General has encouraged Greece to continue to help sustain the momentum on the peace process in Cyprus. The statement was made by the Secretary-General’s Spokesman after Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met on Sunday at the UN Secretariat, on the margins of the 65th UN General Assembly. In his

As world leaders meet this week to review a U.N. bid to cut poverty and hunger by 2015, the Global Campaign for Education warned that the financial crisis had halted improvements in education for children in impoverished countries. There are 69 mln children out of school around the world, said a report on the world's

(Reuters Life!) The Guggenheim museum has teamed with YouTube in a partnership that reflects the growing influence of new media as an art form. The two organizations have created "YouTube Play" to discover and showcase artists working in online video. On Monday, a short list of 125 artists and their videos was unveiled on YouTube.com/play

Chinese media on Monday warned Japan to expect deepening retaliation over a sea dispute, calling the detention of a Chinese boat captain a test of wills between Asia's two biggest economies. China's government on Sunday suspended high-level exchanges and threatened more measures after a Japanese court extended to September 29 the detention of Zhan Qixiong,