Banks closed

CARACAS: Venezuela’s government has closed three more banks for inspection, the country’s finance minister said on Friday, amid a rash of nationalizations that has spooked investors. Ali Rodriguez said the banks were undergoing a “closed-door” inspection for “rehabilitation” days after a similar move led to the nationalization of four other banks.

Fitch not rating Mali

PARIS: International ratings agency Fitch said on Friday it would stop rating Mali because it does not expect the impoverished country’s creditworthiness to improve. Mali is plagued by a “high level of poverty, its vulnerability to external shocks and slow economic growth,” Fitch said in a statement. The ratings agency also deplored the west African country’s structural current account deficit, which Fitch blamed on Mali’s high dependence on energy imports and low export base. “Fitch does not expect any improvement in Mali’s credit worthiness in the medium to long term,” it said. “Fitch will no longer provide rating or analytical coverage of this issuer.”

UFO probe unit shut

LONDON: The British government has shut a unit which has investigated UFO sightings for more than 50 years, judging its resources better spent on more earthly threats, it said on Friday. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) closed down a hotline and an email address to which sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) could be reported. “The MoD has no opinion on the existence or otherwise of extra-terrestrial life. However, in over 50 years, no UFO report has revealed any evidence of a potential threat to the United Kingdom,” it said in a statement. “The MoD has no specific capability for identifying the nature of such sightings. There is no defence benefit in such investigation and it would be an inappropriate use of defence resources,” it added.

Museums shut

PARIS: Louvre museum reopened on Friday after a strike closed it for a day, but several major attractions including the Chateau de Versailles stayed shut, directors said. The Pompidou Centre of modern art in Paris was closed for the 12th day and the Musee d’Orsay, which contains many Impressionist masterpieces, remained closed for the third day. The strike was called by seven unions representing culture ministry employees to protest plans to trim the civil service by replacing only half of all retiring employees. Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand has refused to back down.