Business

Heavy overnight rains flooded Istanbul, Turkey, stranding motorists and flooding arterial roads. The floods led to the death of at least 31 people and the cost of damage has been estimated as being in excess of $70 million in northwestern parts of the country. The flood devastated businesses, swept away cars and swamped houses, roads, and farming land. Fueled by the worst rain in 80 years, waters rose up to six feet (2 meters) high in the city's İkitelli district, cutting off the route to Istanbul's main airport and the highway to Greece and B

A businessman implicated in a serial murder case in India which has been dubbed the "house of horrors" has been cleared on appeal of abducting, raping, and murdering fourteen-year-old Rimpa Haldar. He had been sentenced to death along with his servant. The Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh ruled that there was no evidence to link Moninder Singh Pandher to the girl's remains, which were among those of nineteen young women and girls recovered from bags near his house. Servant Surinder Koli's conviction was upheld as was his sentence. Both

After eight years, the 9/11 attacks have been remembered in New York, in the United States at the site of the former World Trade Center. Other memorial services were held at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. U.S. President Barack Obama attended a memorial service at the Pentagon. In a speech Obama stated, "Eight Septembers have come and gone. Nearly 3,000 days have passed; almost one for each of those taken from us. But no turning of the season can diminish the pain and the loss of that day. No passage of time and no dark skies

A cleanup effort is underway after torrential downpours on Friday, September 4 caused significant flooding in the north-east of Scotland. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said that the weather forecast in the coming days was improving, with no large amounts of rainfall predicted. Over 500 homes had to be evacuated in Moray after the River Spey and River Lossie started to overflow their banks. 400 homes were also evacuated in the Elgin area and 50 more in Fochabers. Other areas affected included Aberdeen, Dyce, Lossiemouth and

Official United States government data revealed on Friday that the jobless rate in the US rose to 9.7% last month, with the economy having shed 216,000 jobs. The unemployment rate is the highest it has been since June 1983. According to revised government statistics, 276,000 jobs were lost in July and a further 463,000 in June. The figures were higher than earlier estimates of 247,000 and 443,000. The economy has lost 6.9 million jobs since the recession officially began in December 2007. The total number of unemployed in the country is now a

United States President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday that he is nominating Ben Bernanke for a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. Obama made the announcement during a brief break from his vacation at Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. "The man next to me, Ben Bernanke, has led the Fed through one of the worst financial crises that this nation and the world has ever faced. As an expert on the causes of the Great Depression, I'm sure Ben never imagined that he would be part of a team resp

Various rumours and reports with regards to a possible move to Ferrari by Fernando Alonso were given more credibility today when McLaren team principle Martin Whitmarsh alluded to the move in an interview with the BBC. "At the moment we have not had, nor are we in, conversations with any other drivers and we will see in the future. In reality, there are some changes probably with Fernando and Ferrari and that frees up the driver market," he said, when asked about what 2010 held for his team. A possible move has been talked about for some month

Stock indexes worldwide rose on Friday, after US bank chief Ben Bernanke said that the US economy was starting to recover from the recession. Addressing a conference in Wyoming, the bank chief said that "the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good." He added, however, that "the economic recovery is likely to be relatively slow at first, with unemployment declining only gradually from high levels." The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 155.91 points, or 1.67%, to end the day at 9505.96. The Nasdaq reached 2020.90 point

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani has launched Pakistan's first international container train service from Islamabad to Istanbul via the Iranian capital, Tehran, as a trial project of the Economic Cooperation Organization to boost Pakistan's trade with Turkey and Iran. The train is carrying 20 containers on its first journey from Islamabad railway station, delivering 14 to Tehran and 6 to Istanbul and will cover 6,500 kilometres in two weeks. Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour said a successful trial phase of the freight tr

According to official records, Hong Kong's economy has left a year-long recession, recording a growth of 3.3% in the second quarter ended in June. The figures, which were seasonally adjusted, were higher than forecast by economists. As a result, the government has increased its growth predictions for 2009. Previous estimates suggested the economy would contract by 5.5% to 6.5%. Now, the contraction is only predicted to be between 3.5% and 4.5%. "The GDP data was much better than we expected, partly because the exports were better and partly b

Official statistics indicate that the economy of Spain, the fourth-largest member of the eurozone, contracted by one percent in the quarter to June. The GDP was 4.1% lower by comparison to this time last year. However, the rate of the decline was less severe in this quarter than previously, and the government said the figures indicated "relatively better performance." The numbers are a contrast with the economies of France and Germany, who both saw their GDPs increase by 0.3% in the same time period. Dominic Bryant of BNP Paribas commented t

Employees of two Thomas Cook travel agency offices in Dublin, Ireland have occupied their offices in response to management's announcement of earlier closure dates for the sites. On Friday, July 31, 40 employees at the Thomas Cook store in Grafton Street began an occupation protest after the sudden announcement of the store's immediate closure; workers at the store had previously been told, when the closures were announced on May 12, that the businesses would remain open until September 6. The day after, employees at the Thomas Cook-owned Dir