The survey of analysts across Europe and the U.S. taken April 21-27 found a slim majority saying the bottom had yet to be hit in the worst global recession since the Second World War.
The vast bulk of them said the financial crisis that began in August 2007 and which has been pounding the world economy [...]

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Bugged cars, mini-bars and the ‘party of God’ … no wonder the arrest of four alleged moles has the Middle East abuzz
Lebanese and Arab media are agog with details of the affair. The most prominent of those arrested is Adib Alam, a retired general with the country’s general security department. Alam, his wife and his [...]

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The designation means the WHO is aware of sustained human-to-human transmission in at least two countries.
“It is clear that the virus is spreading, and we don’t see any evidence of this slowing down,” said Dr. Keiji Fukuda of the WHO, earlier in the day. “It is possible, always theoretically possible, that this epidemic could [...]

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Why they failed to predict the global economic crisis—and why their help is still crucial to a recovery
Economists mostly failed to predict the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. Now they can’t agree how to solve it. People are starting to wonder: What good are economists anyway? A commenter on a housing blog wrote [...]

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The swine flu outbreak is unleashing a side effect the global economy is in no condition to handle: fear.
Travelers are canceling or delaying trips to Mexico, Cuba banned all flights to its neighbor and Argentina announced Tuesday a five-day ban on flights arriving from Mexico. China, Russia and South Korea have banned imports of some [...]

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Is history repeating itself? The current global downturn has many parallels to the Great Depression. And if the current massive bailout packages fail, the effect on the world’s economies could be similarly drastic. By SPIEGEL Staff more…

Photo Gallery: 2009 and 1929: History Repeating?
SPIEGEL 360: Our Full Coverage of the Global Economic Downturn

Part 2: [...]

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Chile is the only investment-grade country to be upgraded by Moody’s since the financial crisis began almost two years ago. The ratings agency also boosted the foreign currency ratings of four major Chilean banks.
There are two reasons why Chile’s economy, while not exactly vibrant at the moment, has caught the eye of Moody’s and a [...]

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Hezbollah, allies positioning to win election
A Hezbollah win would almost certainly mean changes that would dismay the West and Israel. It would mean less pressure from Lebanon’s government to rein in Hezbollah’s arsenal of rockets pointed at the Jewish state – weapons employed in the 2006 war with Israel – and more backing for efforts [...]

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Submarine-launched weapon has capacity for up to six nuclear warheads
Russia will conduct at least five test launches of a new-generation intercontinental ballistic missile this year, the deputy defense minister was quoted as saying Tuesday.
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Russian news agencies cite one of the country’s deputy defense ministers as saying that more that 35,000 officers are to be fired in 2009 as part of sweeping military reforms.
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