A U.N. official dressed up as Santa Claus brought together children from Cyprus' estranged Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities on Friday, dishing out presents in a rare meeting between the island's two
Oil fell below $36 on Friday to its lowest level in more than four years as the global economic slowdown overshadowed OPEC's record supply cuts. U.S. light crude for January delivery were
Unprecedented pre-Christmas discounting by Britain's store groups is helping to improve consumer confidence, a survey showed on Friday, but retailers remain gloomy about their prospects heading into 2009. Car dealer Lookers issued
Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Friday, retreating for the third consecutive session as sinking oil prices continue to weigh on energy stocks, while investors eagerly
General Motors Corp and Chrysler are close to securing emergency loans as part of a U.S. government aid package that would demand sweeping restructuring at the troubled automakers, according to sources familiar
The United States is unprepared for a major hostile attack against vital computer networks, government and industry officials said on Thursday after participating in a two-day "cyberwar" simulation. The game involved 230
A group of Japanese lawyers and professors asked on Friday that Google Inc stop providing detailed street-level images of Japanese cities on the Internet, saying they violated privacy rights. Google's Street View
By Jim Loney Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion Wall Street fraud scheme has hurt and embarrassed the Jewish community of Palm Beach, the Florida town of the mega-wealthy where the financier found
Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday slashed its forecast for China's 2009 gross domestic product growth to 5 percent, from 8 percent, warning about the potential for increasing social tensions as the
By Rujun Shen and Eadie Chen China's dramatic economic slowdown is paying an environmental dividend, slashing emissions levels from the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter as its highest-carbon industries begin to contract.
