Business

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), organizers of the fifth annual Earth Hour, is asking people all over the world to turn off lights tonight from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. local time in support of energy conservation and awareness of climate change. In 2010, 128 countries, 4,000 cities and 1,000 landmarks worldwide participated in Earth Hour, including 13 million people in the UK. In a statement on their website, the WWF said, "Every year Earth Hour asks individuals, businesses and communities worldwide to show their commitment to the environme

Yesterday the Health Ministry claimed that China issued a national ban on smoking in all indoor public spaces. The ban is included in the government's 12th Five-Year Plan. Also banned is smoking in outdoor public areas where pedestrians pass. The ban will begin May 1. China, with a third of the world's smoking population at 300 million smokers, is the largest cigarette market in the world. Each week approximately 70 percent of non-smoking adults are exposed to second-hand smoke. According the the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Preventi

Sales of existing homes in the U.S. fell 9.6% in February, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said today, in a sign that the U.S. housing market is still depressed. The figure was worse than the 3.9% decline anticipated by the economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and questions whether the U.S. housing market is beginning to recover or will continue to fall. A combination of foreclosures and short sales, where the mortgage holder sells the house for less than owed on the mortgage, accounted for almost 40% of the sales.

The prominent Japanese Nikkei 225 stock market index fell another 1.4% Thursday, over financial turmoil after the massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the country a week ago. For the past five trading days, stocks have been down by a total of fourteen percent; today, they were down as much as five percent, or 454 points, but rebounded to close at 8,962 points. US stocks also reacted negatively to the cataclysm; the Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 1.95% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.04%. The British FTSE, howeve

Israel announced Sunday that it plans to build several hundred new housing facilities in the occupied West Bank, days after several Israelis were killed in an attack on Friday. According to officials, a meeting on Saturday of a government committee resulted in the decision to build up to 500 new housing units, all within existing settlements. The new buildings are to be constructed in areas that Israel expects to retain control of in the event of any potential peace accord with Palestine. A Palestinian spokesperson said that Israel's decisio

The tsunami caused by Japan's magnitude 8.9 quake on Friday destroyed the commercial fishing harbor of Crescent City, California, a coastal town still recovering from a devastating tsunami in 1964. Although most of the fishing boats were removed in advance, the 198 docking slips that the harbor had provided for boats, enabling the livelihoods of the fishing crews, were lost. Harbormaster Richard Young said that the harbor is destroyed. "We're facing not only physical but financial disaster," he said during a briefing. "Our business activ

According to analysts, the major earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit on Friday is likely to have major economic impacts within Japan, though the global economy is unlikely to be significantly affected. Rolling blackouts are planned to start on Monday in addition to continuing through this summer and may have to take place next winter as well. According to an economist, Michala Marcussen, at Société Générale, a country's power supply "is a critical factor" to its economy. Marcussen said that if Japan's electrical infrastructure was sever

Liberal Democrat British MP John Hemming revealed in Parliament yesterday that Fred Goodwin, former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group, applied for and was granted a superinjunction to prevent the media revealing he was a banker. After the bank bailouts in 2008, Goodwin became a hate figure after it was revealed that he was going to receive a £700,000 a year pension while the RBS Group announced a £24.1bn loss. John Hemming's revealing of the superinjunction in Parliament is protected by Parliamentary privilege. The reve

Local British councillors have reported that they have seized ice cream made from the breast milk of human beings that had been placed on sale in a shop located in London, England, United Kingdom. Officials cited concerns relating to health and safety. A Westminster City Council spokeswoman explained that two complaints made by members of the public were being replied to by the council. The Icecreamists, the marketing company involved with the dessert known as 'Baby Gaga', are fully co-operating with officials who are carrying out tests that a

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the South Island of New Zealand at 12:51 PM local time on Tuesday (Monday 23:51 UTC). At least 75 people have been killed by collapsing buildings in central Christchurch, with more feared. Mayor Bob Parker said 55 bodies had been identified and there were a further 20 unidentified bodies. The spire of the iconic Anglican ChristChurch Cathedral has fallen and rubble is strewn throughout the central business district. Roads and carparks have cracked and lifted, and two buses are reported to be crushed under the b

38 people were reported dead Sunday, in a Taliban attack on a bank in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The incident, orchestrated by five suicide bombers disguised as policemen and soldiers, quickly escalated into a confrontation between security forces and the invaders armed with machine guns. After a several-hour standoff, four of the five attackers detonated their bombs while the fifth was arrested by police. A representative for the Interior Ministry told the press that "Thirty eight people were martyred which includes 21 security forces person

With a fourth-quarter investment earnings of $3.9 Billion CAD, largely driven by stock market rises, the Canada Pension Plan's (CPP) assets rose to $140.1 Billion reported the CPP Investment Board on Thursday. Rate of return for the quarter netted three percent, bringing the first nine months of the fiscal year to 8.3%. The fund's broad exposure to equities, in concert with a good quarter for stocks both in Canada and internationally, was largely to be credited according to CEO David Deneson. The assets value rose from $127.6 Billion March 31