International

Obama presses the case for health care reform

U.S. President Barack Obama pressed the case for health care reform at a town-hall style meeting with common citizens Wednesday. U.S. President Barack Obama speaks on health care during an online town hall forum at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia, July 1, 2009. (Xinhua/Zhang Yan)Fielding questions from the audience and responding to... Read more

Black box of Airbus A310 located under Indian Ocean

The black box of the Yemeni Airbus A310, which crashed early on Tuesday off the Comoros, has been located under the Indian Ocean. A Yemenia airlines Airbus 310-300 taxis on the tarmac of Charles De Gaulle International Airport in Paris in this July 27, 2002 file photo. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)Signal from the black box of the crashed IY626 plane belonging to Yemenia... Read more

Young survivor of Comoros crash heading to Paris

Kassim Bakari, father of a teenage girl who miraculously survived the Yemenia airliner crash off the Comoros, in Corbeil-Essonnes, outside Paris. The only known survivor of the Yemeni airlines crash off the Comoros islands, Bahia Bakari, 12, was flying home to her father in Paris in a French government plane, officials said. ... Read more

GM tells judge that asset sale is its ‘only option’

Fritz Henderson, chief executive officer of General Motors Corp, enters the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York June 30, 2009. General Motors Corp has no choice but to sell its assets to a group led by the U.S. government if it is to survive, a lawyer for the bankrupt carmaker argued in bankruptcy court in Manhattan on Wednesday. ... Read more

GM tells judge that asset sale is its ‘only option’

Fritz Henderson, chief executive officer of General Motors Corp, enters the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York June 30, 2009. General Motors Corp has no choice but to sell its assets to a group led by the U.S. government if it is to survive, a lawyer for the bankrupt carmaker argued in bankruptcy court in Manhattan on Wednesday. ... Read more

California declares fiscal emergency over budget

SEIU union members and state workers protest outside the State Capitol in Sacramento, July 1, 2009 California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to tackle a budget gap that has raised the prospect of drastic measures to keep the state working. Lawmakers debated... Read more

California declares fiscal emergency over budget

SEIU union members and state workers protest outside the State Capitol in Sacramento, July 1, 2009 California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to tackle a budget gap that has raised the prospect of drastic measures to keep the state working. Lawmakers debated... Read more

ANZ said to seek RBS assets in Hong Kong, Singapore

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. may buy Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s units in at least five Asian economies, three people familiar with the plan said. Melbourne-based ANZ is in advanced negotiations to acquire RBS’s retail and commercial-banking units in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia, said the people,... Read more

Carrefour rises on $6 billion plan for cost cuts, revamp

Carrefour SA, Europe’s largest retailer, jumped the most in three months in Paris trading on optimism that Chief Executive Officer Lars Olofsson’s plan to revamp stores and cut costs will reignite growth. The Paris-based retailer announced the 4.5 billion-euro (US$6.3 billion) expense-reduction measures... Read more

CEO says Chrysler slows ‘bleeding,’ cash loss

Chrysler Group LLC has stemmed the pace at which it uses cash after emerging from bankruptcy June 10 as a slimmer company, Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said. “We are still burning cash, but it’s slowed down by far,” Marchionne, also CEO of Italian automaker Fiat SpA, said in an interview... Read more