Friday, December 12, 2008
International News
TOP STORIES as of 0900 HKT -- 13 December, 2008
TEEN DISAPPEARS: 'MOM, I'M IN SOMALIA'
Seventeen-year-old Burhan Hassan told his family he was catching
a ride to school with a friend just before he vanished from his
home in the U.S. Midwest. A month later, he rang home to say:
"Mom, I'm in Somalia!" The FBI says he is not the only young
U.S. citizen heading to Somalia "potentially to fight."
ZIMBABWE: CHOLERA IS GENOCIDE BY UK
President Robert Mugabe was ridiculing what he believes are
Western designs to invade Zimbabwe when he said "there is no
cholera" in the country, a government spokesman says.
U.S. ENVOY URGES INTERNATIONAL MUMBAI PROBE
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte called Friday for
international support to help India investigate the deadly
terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
STOCKS SLIDE AS U.S. AUTO BAILOUT FAILS
Asian and European markets fell sharply on Friday after
Washington's automaker bailout plan floundered on Republican
opposition. More bleak economic data from the U.S. and news of
35,000 job cuts at Bank of America added to the gloom.
POLICE NOT CLEARED IN UK SUBWAY KILLING
Jurors at the inquest into the mistaken shooting of an unarmed
Brazilian man the day after the failed suicide bombings in
London returned an open verdict in the case Friday, the
coroner's spokesman said.
ROME ON FLOOD ALERT
Officials monitoring the River Tiber in Rome fear it could break
its banks as early as Friday evening after a spate of bad
weather in Italy, the country's Civil Protection Department has
said.
ATHENS ROCKED BY 7TH DAY OF CLASHES
Youths smashed windows and threw rocks at police in central
Athens Friday, the seventh day of clashes that erupted after a
police officer killed a 15-year-old boy last Saturday.
ZIMBABWE UNVEILS $500 MILLION NOTE
Zimbabwe's central bank is introducing a $500 million note --
the highest current denomination -- as the once-prosperous
southern African nation battles against spiraling
hyperinflation.
BUSINESS
EU APPROVES $267B BAILOUT PLAN
European Union leaders meeting in Brussels have approved a
€200 billion ($267 billion) stimulus plan for the 27-nation
bloc's battered economy.
FORMER NASDAQ CHAIRMAN CHARGED WITH FRAUD
Former Nasdaq chairman Bernard Madoff was arrested Thursday and
charged with a single count of securities fraud for allegedly
operating a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme from his investment
advisory business, federal authorities said.
DIAMOND SELLS FOR RECESSION-BUSTING $24.3M
What recession? Christie's, the famed auction house, this week
sold a nearly 36-carat diamond for $24.3 million, which it said
was the highest price for a diamond sold at auction.
