Europe
8.9% drop in UK university applications
University applications from UK students for courses starting in the autumn have fallen by 8.9% on last year, according to figures from the universities and colleges admissions service (UCAS). This year’s group of students would be the first to face the new rate of tuition fees of up to £9,000 a year. Universities Minister David Willetts said the figures were still “the second highest on record”.
Spanish borrowing costs continue to rise
Yields on Spanish 10-year bonds have risen above 7%, the level beyond which is considered to be unsustainable in the long term. Italian bond yields have risen to 6.1%. The news comes ahead of another summit of eurozone finance ministers today, at which further details of the bailout ofSpain’s banks are expected to be released. Meanwhile, at a short-term German bond auction today, the yield on six-month German bonds fell to a record low of -0.03%, meaning investors were paying the German government to lend to them.
North America
Obama to call for extension of Bush tax cuts by one year
President Barack Obama will today seek to extend tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 a year – a Bush-era policy – by one year. They currently stand to expire on January 1 as part of a “fiscal cliff” along with deep spending cuts that will take automatic effect. Together they will have a significant impact on the US economy. Republicans in Congress have long argued that the Bush tax cuts should extend to everyone, including higher earners.
Latin America
Evo Morales re-elected as leader of Bolivian coca growers’ union
Bolivian President Evo Morales has been re-elected as head of the country’s union of coca growers, a post he has held since 1996. He has urged growers to better control coca leaf production, which he says would help to silence accusations that the leaf growers are involved in drug trafficking. Mr Morales has long campaigned for the acceptance of traditional uses of coca, calling for a UN ban on coca chewing to be lifted, claiming the practice is part of Bolivia’s heritage. Coca leaves are the raw ingredient for cocaine, and were declared an illegal substance under a 1961 UN convention.
Russia and Asia
Russian court delays hearing on BP lawsuit
A Russian court has today postponed hearings on a suit brought against BP by minority shareholders, who claim the British company cut TNK-BP out of a prospective exploration deal with them and the Russian state oil group Rosneft. The case was reopened after being thrown out last year amid renewed hostilities between TNK-BP’s co-owners, BP and a group of billionaire investors, prompted by BP’s announcement last month that it would seek to sell its stake inRussia’s third-largest oil firm.
Africa and Middle East
Closure of Egyptian parliament is binding, court rules
Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi’s order to reconvene the country’s parliament has been struck by its highest court, which says its ruling to dissolve the assembly is binding. The speaker of the parliament had called for MPs to meet tomorrow, following President Mursi’s decree, butEgypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, meeting today, said its ruling was final. The original decision to dissolve parliament was taken by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), because party members had contested seats in the recent elections that were meant to be reserved for independents. The decision was backed by the court. Before handing over power to the president, the military – which had ruled Egypt since the Arab Spring revolutions last year – granted itself sweeping powers.
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