Japan may need up to five years to rebuild from the disastrous earthquake and tsunami that has caused up to $235bn (£145bn) of damage, the World Bank said in a report.

The move to oust Professor Muhammad Yunus from the board of Grameen Bank is the latest in a line of criticisms aimed at him as an individual and the microcredit system he pioneered.

Pakistan could become the UK's biggest aid recipient by 2015.

India's Supreme Court has said that the practice of illegal funnelling of wealth overseas by Indians is a "pure and simple theft of national money".

The gap between the rich and poor in the UK remained at a high level in 2007-8, official statistics have shown.

Scotland is facing its "most difficult" challenges in tackling poverty in years, campaigners have warned.

The EU is looking at resuming talks, begun with Tunisia while Mr Ben Ali was in power, on improving trade terms with the country.

Sudan is suffering an economic crisis, with a current account deficit and currency devaluation driving up inflation.

Talks between US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao are being billed as the most important meeting between the two countries for 30 years. It comes at a time when relations have been strained by issues such as the trade imbalance and China's growing military might.

The decision may significantly raise the future cost of borrowing for over-indebted eurozone governments. It is part of a new permanent scheme - to be funded by eurozone governments, but not the UK - to replace existing bail-out funds that expire in 2013. "The Member States whose currency is the euro may establish a stability mechanism to safeguard the stability of the euro area as a whole. The granting of financial assistance under the mechanism will be made subject to strict conditionality."

A surge in imports in June pushed Britain's trade deficit with non-EU countries to its widest level on record.

As the World Trade Organisation (WTO) gathers in Hong Kong for fresh negotiations between rich and poor countries, should Africa be hopeful?

This article is about epresentatives from 12 South American countries signing an agreement to create a political and economic bloc modelled on the European Union.

This article talks about developing countries, such as China and India, wanting to join in free trade with more developed countries in Europe and the US.

This article talks about England raising the previously discounted tariff on energy.

This article is talking about the unbalance between rich and poor countries in free trade. Here the article is raising the question about whether Africa benefits from free trade, or if it actually hurts the economy.

This article is about Brazil's desire to buy fighter planes and other military vessels from France. This relates to this week's topic because France has an absolute advantage when it comes to military machines, so Brazil wants to purchase them.

This article relates to the topic of income tax because it is talking about the different parties in the English government will change the income tax to please the public.

This article is talking about the cost of home loans falling to the cheapest level in more than a year as competition amongst mortgage lenders continues to put pressure on interest rates. This relates to this week's topic because it is talking about lowering interest rates on mortgages to boost both consumer spending and corporate investment which will increase aggregate demand.

Because of financial pressures and donations falling due to the recession, will have to cut costs and minimize welfare for animals. The number of abandoned pets is increasing due to the recession and because of the financial pressures, the RSPCA has to start turning away abandoned pets and only take in ones that have been seized by inspectors in cruelty cases or those which are at immediate risk or cruelty. This article shows that even animal welfare is being affected by the recession.