(PARIS) Scientists have trained monkeys to manipulate a robotic arm solely with brain power, and could soon help amputees and paralysed stroke victims do the same, according to a study released on Wednesday.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Moody's, S&P face tougher regulation in US, Europe
(LONDON) Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's, reeling from criticism over the way they rated asset-backed debt, face tougher global regulation to prevent a repeat of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis.
April durable goods orders stronger than expected
(WASHINGTON) New orders for long-lasting United States manufactured goods slipped 0.5 per cent in April as demand for civilian aircraft plunged, but a key barometer of business investment spending posted a surprisingly sharp gain, a government report showed yesterday.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Race returns to the North Atlantic
THE fleet has cleared the Bahamian islands and the 10 teams now find themselves out in open waters once again.
Fleet splits round Bahamian islands
FOLLOWING the Le Mans start yesterday the teams have had to battle with squally conditions bringing occasional heavy rain and patches of light wind.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
French classroom drama wins at Cannes
(CANNES) The Cannes film festival wrapped up on Sunday after awarding its top prize to a French classroom drama with a cast of amateurs in a banner year for movies with a conscience.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Swiss banks' reward-system reports wanted
(GENEVA) Switzerland's banking watchdog wants to halt excessive bonuses for bankers who fail to take into account the risks taken as they chase profits, the watchdog's top official told a Swiss Sunday newspaper.
Cat helps out as stationmaster at Japanese railway
(KINOKAWA) In times of need, Japanese say that they can even ask the cat for help. In this town in western Japan, people look to Tama, a nine-year-old cat working as master of an unmanned train station.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Banks to blame for sub-prime crisis says Buffett
(MADRID) Blame for the sub-prime crisis lies at the feet of banks who took too many risks in mortgage lending, US billionaire investor Warren Buffett told newspaper El Pais in an interview published yesterday.
US consumer shift from trucks a 'fundamental' change: Ford
(DETROIT) Ford Motor Co, battling record petrol prices, concluded in the past few days that a US consumer shift away from trucks is 'fundamental', chief executive officer Alan Mulally said.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Resale of homes dips to a new low
(NEW YORK) Sales of previously owned homes in the US fell in April, matching a record low and signalling no let-up in the housing recession.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Moody's shifts debt analysts as banks complain
(LONDON) Moody's Corp's credit rating unit Moody's Investors Service switched analysts from covering deals of particular investment banks after the banks requested changes, the Wall Street Journal said yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Blame short-covering traders for US$135 oil
(NEW YORK) Oil prices are heading to more than US$142 a barrel in the next eight years, according to futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange, on concern that growth in supply may fail to keep pace with rising demand.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Obama: 'We're within reach of nomination'
(NEW YORK) Barack Obama took a big step on Tuesday towards becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, amassing enough additional delegates to claim an all but insurmountable advantage in his race against Senator Hillary Clinton.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Microsoft cashback plan for Live.com
(NEW YORK) Microsoft Corp will give cash back to people who shop online with its Live.com search engine, building up the business after abandoning a US$47.5 billion bid for Internet rival Yahoo! Inc this month.
British Land posts first loss in over 20 years
(LONDON) British Land, the biggest developer in London, reported its first annual loss in at least 20 years after writing down the value of office buildings and malls.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Buffett goes fishing for investments in Europe
(NEW YORK) Billionaire Warren Buffett said that there are 'far more' potential takeover targets for his US$200 billion Berkshire Hathaway in Europe than in emerging markets, as he looks outside the US for acquisitions to spur profit growth.
Microsoft proposes another deal with Yahoo
(SEATTLE) Microsoft Corp has proposed an alternative deal to Yahoo! Inc, rather than a full acquisition, in a move that could save the Web pioneer from fighting a proxy battle with financier Carl Icahn.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sex and the City movie a juicy mode for marketers
(NEW YORK) From Manolo Blahnik high heels to designer dresses, the materialism of the characters in television's Sex and the City has made the movie version a marketing dream that some companies are paying for dearly and at least one is getting for free.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Climate change big threat to black truffle
(PARIS) The black truffle, one of the most exclusive and expensive delicacies on the planet, is under threat from climate change.
World economy on brink of decline
(UNITED NATIONS) The world economy is 'teetering on the brink' of a severe downturn and will grow by only 1.8 per cent this year, the United Nations has said.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Diamond ring auctioned for US$5m is priciest gemstone
(GENEVA) A vivid blue 3.7-carat diamond ring sold for just under US$5 million at auction, becoming the priciest gemstone per carat ever, Sotheby's said yesterday.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Rain Cannes stop the festivities
People waiting under umbrellas outside the Festival Palace during the 61st Cannes International Film Festival yesterday.
HSBC will have to write off US$30b, says hedge fund
BANKING giant HSBC's first-quarter US$3.2 billion sub-prime write-off is hugely inadequate, according to a London hedge fund.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Bacon painting sets post-war record at auction
(NEW YORK) Francis Bacon's 'Triptych, 1976' fetched US$86 million at Sotheby's contemporary sale on Wednesday, setting a record for post-war art and contributing to the auction house's best result in its nearly 300-year history.
Consumer prices up just 0.2% in April
(WASHINGTON) Despite the biggest jump in food prices in 18 years, US consumer prices rose a smaller-than-expected 0.2 per cent in April as energy prices paused in their recent surge, a Labor Department report yesterday showed.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Lehman's Harris sees Fed cutting rates to zero
NEITHER the housing market nor consumer spending in the US are likely to recover before the end of next year, which means that the Federal Reserve will need to cut interest rates again, possibly to zero, Lehman Brothers chief US economist Ethan Harris predicted yesterday.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
JPMorgan chief warns of long, deep US recession
(NEW YORK) JPMorgan Chase & Co chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon on Monday told bank investors that while the current credit market crunch may soon be over, the US economy could still face a deep and extended recession.
Wristwatch fetches record 2.35m Swiss francs in auction
(GENEVA) A chronograph wristwatch which belonged to an Italian racing driver fetched 2.35 million Swiss francs (S$3.07 million) at auction, Sotheby's said yesterday.
Monday, May 12, 2008
News Corp withdraws bid for Newsday newspaper
(NEW YORK) News Corp, the media conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch, has withdrawn its bid to purchase the Long Island paper Newsday, a News Corp spokeswoman said on Saturday.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Obama erases Clinton's lead in superdelegate endorsements
(WASHINGTON) Barack Obama erased Hillary Rodham Clinton's once-imposing lead among superdelegates on Saturday when he added more endorsements from the group of Democrats who will decide the party's nomination for president.
AIG posts US$7.8b Q1 loss; CEO's job at risk
(NEW YORK) American International Group (AIG) will seek to raise US$12.5 billion to shore up its finances after two straight record losses, adding to speculation that Martin Sullivan may be the next chief executive officer to lose his job amid the global credit crisis.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Triple joy
(BUCHAREST) A woman seen through blue balloons here yesterday during celebrations marking Romania's Independence Day, European Union's Day and World War Two Victory Day.
US taxpayers foot bill for derivative deals gone bad
(NEW YORK) Taxpayers from Massachusetts to California are paying Wall Street banks to end derivative contracts gone bad as they exit the collapsing auction-rate bond market, with penalties in some cases topping US$10 million and compounding the pain of rising borrowing costs.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Google founders no longer just 'whiz kids': CEO
(MOUNTAIN VIEW, California) It's official: the guys who founded Google are grown up.
Citi, 5 other banks lose bid to throw out suit
(NEW YORK) Citigroup and five other banks lost their bid to have a New York judge throw out a lawsuit by Clear Channel Communications' buyers accusing the lenders of refusing to fund the US$19.5 billion acquisition.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Rise in Q1 worker productivity beats expectations
(WASHINGTON) US worker productivity rose by a better-than-expected amount in the first three months of the year while labour cost pressures eased.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Obama on top with big win in North Carolina
(NEW YORK) Senator Barack Obama moved closer to clinching the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday by decisively defeating Senator Hillary Clinton in North Carolina and losing to her by a narrow margin in Indiana.
Top three movers and shakers
The movers and shakers overnight appear to be Hull & Humber, Nova Scotia and Qingdao.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Clinton dismisses critics of gas tax proposal
(WASHINGTON) Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday dismissed the 'elite opinion' of economists who criticised her gas tax proposal, using a term that has dogged rival Barack Obama in recent weeks.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Liverpool 08's cunning plan
WE know that you are all sitting there saying What in
the name of Neptune are they doing? (Or words to that
effect) - patience my dears, patience and all will
become apparent - or would do, but apparently the
wind (apparent or otherwise) is not behaving as
predicted.
Liverpool 08, Jamaica in keen tussle
AFTER cashing in their offshore
advantage, Liverpool 08 is neck-andneck
with Jamaica with less than half
the race left to run.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Labour Party headed for loss in UK elections
(LONDON) Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour Party was headed yesterday toward its worst local election defeat in four decades, bleeding council seats from traditional strongholds and fuelling doubts about Mr Brown's ability to lead his party to victory in a general election.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Fed boosts emergency reserves to banks to US$150b in May
(WASHINGTON) The Federal Reserve yesterday announced that it will expand a series of efforts to deal with the global credit crisis, in coordination with European central banks.
Berkshire faces probe over Moody's stake
(NEW YORK) Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc faces a probe by Connecticut's attorney general for possible conflicts created by owning almost 20 per cent of credit ratings company Moody's Corp while also running a new municipal bond insurer.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Sublime conditions
THE fight for the podium places has taken another turn overnight and the excitement has cranked up a notch as Hull & Humber made excellent ground to put themselves right back in contention, snatching the top spot from Glasgow: Scotland with style Clipper.
SEC to be equally tough on international reports
(NEW YORK) Regulators at the US Securities and Exchange Commission will be just as tough when examining financial statements filed under international accounting rules, a top official said on Wednesday.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
M'soft fails to reach decision on Yahoo takeover
(NEW YORK) Microsoft Corp directors failed to decide on the next step in the pursuit of Yahoo! Inc on Wednesday, leaving open the debate over whether to walk away from the US$44.6 billion bid or fight to replace the Internet company's board.
Sold for US$1.4m at auction: Late Egyptian singer's necklace
(DUBAI) A necklace made up of 1,888 pearls that once belonged to the Arab world's most famed singer was sold on Tuesday for more than US$1 million at an auction in this rich Gulf emirate, the auction's organisers said.
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