Top Stories

Asian markets show signs of life after global rout

Pedestrians look at a stock indicator in Tokyo Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008. Japanese shares fell sharply in early trade Tuesday, briefly sending the country's benchmark index to its lowest level since December 2003. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Enlarge Photo
AP
AP - 1 hour, 4 minutes ago

SEOUL, South Korea - Asian stocks showed signs of life Tuesday after a global market sell-off, with several markets climbing into positive territory or paring losses after opening sharply lower.

  • A Los Angeles County forensic technician investigates inside an open garage at the home where six bodies were found in a gated community in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Porter Ranch area of Los Angeles on Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. An unemployed accounting industry worker who was despondent over financial problems shot and killed his wife, three children, mother-in-law and then himself in an upscale home in a gated community, police said Monday. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
    Upset over financial problems, man kills family, then himself AP - 1 hour, 1 minute ago

    LOS ANGELES - An unemployed man with an advanced finance degree who was despondent over his own financial problems shot and killed his wife, three children, mother-in-law and then himself in an upscale home in a gated community, police said Monday.

  • Fan use linked to lower risk of sudden baby death AP - 58 minutes ago

    CHICAGO - Using a fan to circulate air seemed to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in a study of nearly 500 babies, researchers reported Monday. Placing babies on their backs to sleep is the best advice for preventing SIDS, a still mysterious cause of death.

  • R. Kelly seeks $3.4 million from tour promoter AP - 57 minutes ago

    LOS ANGELES - R. Kelly has won a $3.4 million award against his former tour promoter and is asking a Los Angeles judge to help him collect.

  • Boston Red Sox's Jason Bay dives into home for the game-winning run in front of Los Angeles Angels catcher Mike Napoli in Game 4 of baseball's American League division series in Boston, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. The Red Sox won 3-2 and will face the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL championship series. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
    Red Sox beat Angels 3-2, move on to ALCS and Rays AP - 49 minutes ago

    BOSTON - The Boston Red Sox brushed aside the 100-win Angels in four games, dismissing their best-in-baseball regular season as last month's news.

  • Minnesota Vikings' Ryan Longwell (8) kicks a field goal with 13 seconds left against the New Orleans Saints in an NFL football game in New Orleans, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. The Vikings won 30-27. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)
    Vikings escape New Orleans with victory AP - 1 hour, 7 minutes ago

    NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans Saints committed so many blunders, not even Reggie Bush's record-tying two punt returns for touchdowns could make up for them in a 30-27 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.

  • Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) greets diners at the 12 Bones Smokehouse barbeque restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina, October 6, 2008. (Jason Reed/Reuters)
    Obama has 3-point national lead on McCain Reuters - 27 minutes ago

    NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama has a narrow 3-point lead in the U.S. presidential race on Republican John McCain less than a month before the election, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Tuesday.

  • Sweden's Finance Minister Anders Borg (L) and Capital Market Minister Mats Odell pause during a news conference in Stockholm October 6, 2008. (Scanpix/Photo Anders Wiklund/Reuters)
    Nervous markets take heart from Aussie rate cut Reuters - 9 minutes ago

    BEIJING (Reuters) - Guarded optimism mounted on Tuesday for a unified international response to the credit crisis ricocheting around the world after Australia cut interest rates far more steeply than expected.

  • A man passes an electronic board displaying financial data outside a brokerage in Tokyo, October 7, 2008. (Yuriko Nakao/Reuters)
    Big Australia rate cut spurs Asia stocks rebound Reuters - 13 minutes ago

    HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian stocks outside Japan rose for the first time in four days on Tuesday and the yen fell after a surprisingly large interest rate cut by Australia's central bank raised hopes that other policymakers would follow suit.

  • A man walks past a Bank Of America branch in New York, October 6, 2008. Bank of America Corp, the largest U.S. bank, on Monday reported a 68 percent drop in quarterly earnings, halved its dividend and said it would seek to raise $10 billion in additional capital. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)
    BofA earnings tumble, cuts dividend Reuters - Mon Oct 6, 7:40 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp, citing "recessionary conditions," on Monday halved its dividend and said it would sell at least $10 billion in new common stock to bolster its capital to offset rising loan losses.

  • A Wachovia banking branch is seen in Manhasset, New York, October 6, 2008. The U.S. Federal Reserve is brokering discussions between Wells Fargo and Co and Citigroup Inc over which of the banks will buy Wachovia Corp's assets, people familiar with the matter have said. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
    Wachovia, Citi, Wells Fargo to halt litigation Reuters - Mon Oct 6, 6:43 PM ET

    NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co and Citigroup Inc agreed on Monday to a 44-hour truce in their fight over regional bank Wachovia Corp after a weekend of legal wrangling.

  • Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Governor Sarah Palin speaks during the U.S. vice presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri October 2, 2008. (Jim Young/Reuters)
    Palin warns Florida voters of "rough" campaigning Reuters - 45 minutes ago

    CLEARWATER, Florida (Reuters) - Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin told Florida's voters on Monday to expect "rough" campaigning as she seeks to halt a slide in opinion polls in a state that could make or break Sen. John McCain's White House bid.

  • A policeman holds a piece of cloth after a suicide bomb blast in the western province of Herat October 5, 2008. (Hoshang Hashimi/Reuters)
    U.S. dismisses Afghan war comments as "defeatist" Reuters - Mon Oct 6, 8:42 PM ET

    KABUL (Reuters) - Britain's military commander and ambassador in Afghanistan are being "defeatist" by thinking the war cannot be won, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, as Washington seeks more troops for the conflict that started exactly seven years ago.

  • U.S. official says online drug videos threaten teens Reuters - 1 hour, 42 minutes ago

    LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The director of the White House war on drugs said on Monday that Internet videos that show people getting high pose a dangerous threat to teenagers by encouraging them to use drugs and alcohol.

  • A businessman walks past a share prices board in Tokyo. Japanese stocks plunged more than five percent within the first 30 minutes of the Tuesday session amid the global financial crisis that has sent major markets plummeting(AFP/File/Yoshikazu Tsuno)
    Market mayhem drags on as stocks plunge in Asia AFP - 52 minutes ago

    TOKYO (AFP) - Asian stock markets plunged again in early trade Tuesday as fear-stricken investors saw no end in sight to the crisis rocking global financial markets.

  • Map locating the Thai parliament in Bangkok where police fired tear gas Tuesday at protesters injuring 85 people as months of political turmoil boiled over(AFP/Graphic)
    Thai police fire tear gas on protesters, 85 injured AFP - 10 minutes ago

    BANGKOK, (AFP) - Police fired tear gas Tuesday on protesters massed outside parliament in the Thai capital, injuring 85 people as months of political turmoil boiled over, police and a medical official said.

  • A technician makes final preparations on the stage where Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate John McCain will debate in Nashville, Tennessee. John McCain Monday accused White House rival Barack Obama of obfuscating his past and offering no track record to point a way out of America's deepening economic crisis.(AFP/Paul J. Richards)
    Attacks get personal ahead of second US presidential debate AFP - Mon Oct 6, 9:27 PM ET

    NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AFP) - Republican John McCain questioned Barack Obama's character, while the Democrat pressed his foe's alleged weakness on economic issues as tempers escalated ahead of the White House rivals' debate Tuesday.

  • Amal Mint Cheikh Abdallahi (left), the daughter of deposed Mauritanian president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, talks with her sister-in-law San, October 6 during a press conference in Nouakchott. Mauritanian opposition parties were set Tuesday to defy a ban on demonstrations to keep up pressure on the military junta, which let pass an African Union deadline to reinstate the ousted president.(AFP/Seyllou)
    Mauritanian opposition keeps up pressure on junta AFP - Mon Oct 6, 10:58 PM ET

    NOUAKCHOTT, (AFP) - Mauritanian opposition parties were set Tuesday to defy a ban on demonstrations to keep up pressure on the military junta, which let pass an African Union deadline to reinstate the ousted president.

  • A monkey sits in a tree. Half the world's mammals are declining in population and more than a third probably face extinction, according to an update of the "Red List," the most respected inventory of biodiversity.(AFP/File/Kambou Sia)
    Half of mammals 'in decline', says extinction Red List AFP - 45 minutes ago

    BARCELONA (AFP) - Half the world's mammals are declining in population and more than a third probably face extinction, said an update of the "Red List," the most respected inventory of biodiversity.

  • Jean-Claude Juncker, president of Eurogroup and Prime Minister of Luxembourg talks with Dutch Finance Minister Wounter Bos (left) on October 6 before an EUROGROUP meeting at the EU headquarters in Luxembourg.(AFP/Dominique Faget)
    EU moves to restore confidence in banking system AFP - 48 minutes ago

    LUXEMBOURG (AFP) - European finance ministers were set Tuesday to begin preparing their first joint measure to reassure savers unnerved by the financial crisis by ramping up minimum bank deposit guarantees.

  • A branch of the troubled Franco-Belgian bank Dexia in central Brussels. The Belgian and French governments have agreed to propose former Belgian premier Jean-Luc Dehaene as new chairman of the embattled banking firm, Belgian leaders have announced.(AFP/File/Didier Jouret)
    Belgium, France choose new bosses at troubled Dexia AFP - 1 hour, 2 minutes ago

    BRUSSELS (AFP) - The Belgian and French governments have agreed that former Belgian premier Jean-Luc Dehaene should become new chairman of troubled Dexia bank, with a BNP Paribas manager as CEO, Belgian leaders said Tuesday.

Most Popular Top Stories

  • BofA earnings tumble, cuts dividend Reuters - Mon Oct 6, 7:40 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp, citing "recessionary conditions," on Monday halved its dividend and said it would sell at least $10 billion in new common stock to bolster its capital to offset rising loan losses.

  • A Crash Course in Diabetes for Men U.S. News & World Report - Mon Oct 6, 3:13 PM ET

    A recent survey of men with diabetes revealed an interesting tidbit of information: Men may not be as irresponsible and cavalier as they sometimes seem when it comes to their health--it's just that we need a little extra info to understand how to be healthy.

  • Farah, a 10 year old child with Down's Syndrome in Baghdad. A new prenatal test to detect genetic disorders such as Down's could render current riskier procedures "obsolete," according to new research(AFP/Sabah Arar)
    New genetic fetus test reduces miscarriage risk: study AFP - Mon Oct 6, 8:34 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - A new prenatal test to detect genetic disorders such as Down's Syndrome could render current riskier procedures "obsolete," according to new research published Monday.