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Public views of China and Russia have slipped considerably in the past year, according to a new BBC World Service poll across 21 countries.

Fitch Ratings announces the release of the Latin America Telecommunications, Media and Technology (TMT) 2009 Outlook report. The findings indicate that most of the companies in the TMT sector within Latin America are well positioned to maintain stable credit profiles, aided by strong cash generation, low to moderate leverage and favorable debt maturity profiles. The introduction of number portability throughout the region, which started in Mexico and Brazil in 2008, is expected to increase competition going forward.

They say that in bad economic times crime rises. If online click fraud rates are any indication, they could be right.

Current and continued economic turmoil have companies around the world grappling with ways to reduce costs and remain stable enough to ride out the downturn. According to new research by Hewitt Associates, a global human resources consulting and outsourcing company, the majority of organizations in every region of the world are responding by making across-the-board cuts to their 2009 salary increase budgets. Many of these companies also plan to take additional steps to reduce compensation costs - including layoffs, pay freezes, hiring freezes and reducing bonus budgets - yet these strategies vary drastically by region.

Consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 1.5% in the year to December 2008, compared with 2.2% in the year to November. Month-on-month, prices fell 0.5% in December, after declining 0.9% in November.

As companies around the world prepare for a carbon-constrained economy, business leaders are increasingly employing Green IT strategies in efforts to reduce energy use, cut carbon emissions and mitigate exposure to risks associated with energy price volatility, pending regulatory demands, and increased transparency and reporting requirements driven by shareholder activism.

There is huge potential for biofuel production in sub-Saharan African countries such as Nigeria, Uganda and Angola, provided there is a concerted effort from key stakeholders. The production of feedstock and the fuel itself would ultimately lead to socio-economic improvement and, with the correct implementation and management, the controversy about feedstock used for fuel vs. food can be resolved.

Pension funds that used so-called liability-driven investment (LDI) strategies outperformed funds with traditional asset allocations in 2008 by a significant margin, according to Watson Wyatt, a global consulting firm.

Companies worldwide are shifting their investor relations strategies to deal with fallout from the credit crisis and boosting communications with analysts and investors, according to an annual survey conducted by The Bank of New York Mellon.

Fitch Ratings says in a new report published today that credit asset managers are changing their investment strategies and product offerings in response to ongoing credit market dislocations.