Members joining Saudi Arabia in raising production to allay fears of supply crunch in WestOil’s march towards $120 a barrel sparked a frantic day across financial markets, as OPEC members prepared to increase production and investors seeking a “safe haven” drove the price of gold to a fresh high.Fears were intensified as Libya witnessed a day of fierce clashes between forces loyal to Colonel Gadha

Interim P.M. announces members of government, pledges to revive economyTUNIS (AFP) ― Tunisia on Monday scrapped its feared political police and named a new interim government free of any members of the regime of toppled strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.Affirming a commitment “to apply the law and respect liberties and civic rights,” the interior ministry announced that it was abolishing the gener

Microsoft Corp. will pay Nokia Oyj more than $1 billion to promote and develop Windows-based handsets as part of their smartphone software agreement, according to two people with knowledge of the terms.Nokia will pay Microsoft a fee for each copy of Windows used in its phones, costs that will be offset as Nokia curtails its own budget for software research and development, said one of the people,

Thousands of internet users are still clicking to see video footage of a monkey “waitress” in a human mask on YouTube. (YouTube)Even now, a year after it was posted, this creepy footage seems to remain a massive hit as netizens frequently post fresh comments under the video of the monkey “serving” in a restaurant. In the video clip, a monkey named Fukuchan is seen running around and entertaining c

Elephants quickly learned to cooperate to solve a problem, researchers report in Monday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.   The giant mammals are socially complex, explained lead researcher Joshua M. Plotnik.   ``They help others in distress,'' he said. ``They seem in some ways emotionally attached to each other, so you would expect there would be some level of cooperat

Tel Aviv (dpa) - She will soon celebrate her 100th birthday, but Luba Fishman has found a new career - as a poster woman for an international cosmetics company.The Latvian-born, Israel-domiciled great-grandmother was chosen as a new face for Dove Cosmetics' "real beauty" campaign, with the slogan "Does true beauty have an age limit?"The company says the campaign is designed to avoid "beauty stereo

RAYNE, Louisiana (AP) – Officials worked Sunday to get people back into their homes a day after a tornado ripped through this southwestern Louisiana town, killing a mother shielding her child from the fierce winds and leaving 12 hurt.Many of the 1,500 residents who had been evacuated were being allowed to return to their homes in this community about 70 miles (112 kilometers) west of Baton Rouge,

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s latest bullet train, the thin-nosed “Hayabusa” or Falcon, made its 300 kilometer per hour debut, boasting a luxury carriage modeled on airline business class.Japan has built up a network of cutting-edge Shinkansen train lines since the 1960s that criss-cross the island nation and now hopes to sell the infrastructure technology abroad, including to the United States.The latest

Fighting in Libya pushes oil prices above $104 per barrelNEW YORK (AP) ― Oil prices rose past $104 a barrel to end the week at a 29-month high, as fighting in Libya intensified and the world’s largest petroleum consumer, the U.S., reported that employers added nearly 200,000 new jobs in February.The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate dropped to 8.9 percent in February. While t

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama says he’s willing to make deeper spending cuts if Congress can compromise on a budget deal that would end the threat of a government shutdown.Obama’s appeal for common ground came Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address, but lacked specifics on how to bridge the $50 billion gulf that divides the White House and Democratic budget proposal from the

U.S. administration’s policy faces difficulty in framing consistent messageWASHINGTON (AFP) ― As a wildfire of revolt whips through the Middle East and North Africa, the White House is embracing pragmatism and shying away from embroidering a grand “Obama doctrine” for a region in turmoil.For a politician as fond of the grand gesture as President Barack Obama, the idea of an eponymous school of for

The appearance of “two suns” in the Taiwanese sky has made people wonder whether the second one is an exploded Betelgeuse, the second biggest star in the constellation Orion. News.com.au reported in January that Betelgeuse was losing mass in its center and would explode when it ran out, creating a second sun in the night sky, citing Dr. Brad Carter, senior lecturer of Physics at the University of

Apple Inc. is in talks with record companies to give iTunes music buyers easier access to their songs on multiple devices, three people with knowledge of the plans said.Apple is negotiating with music companies, including Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp. and EMI Group Ltd., said the people, who asked for anonymity because the talks are private.

 A British woman who claimed that she was raped in order to hide infidelity was sentenced to one year in prison. She named two men as her attackers.Samatha Morley, whose husband is a soldier serving in Afghanistan, maintained that she was raped when he found out she became pregnant while he was out of the country, the Daily Mail reported.Her husband reported the matter to the police, and she repea