December 25, 2011
Portugal in US$3.5b utility stake sale to China
Portugal is selling the state’s 21.35 per cent stake in national utility Energias de Portugal to China Three Gorges Corporation for euro 2.7 billion (US$3.5 billion), officials said Thursday. Three Gorges Corporation beat rival bids from German…
December 25, 2011
Tortuga Rum Companies unite
The shareholders of Tortuga CRC Jamaica Ltd, Tortuga Rum Company Ltd of the Cayman Islands, Tortuga Imports Inc, of Miami, Florida, and Tortuga Barbados/Baker’s Choice have consolidated their regional interests into a new international food group…
December 25, 2011
Pope Benedict XVI attacks Christmas consumerism at Mass
Pope Benedict XVI has attacked the commercialisation of Christmas as he held the…
December 25, 2011
Moscow protest: Thousands rally against Vladimir Putin
Tens of thousands of people have rallied in central Moscow in a show of anger at alleged electoral fraud. They passed a resolution "not to give a single vote to (PM) Vladimir Putin" at next year's presidential elections. Protest leader Alexei…
December 25, 2011
Sudan army ‘kills’ key Darfur rebel Khalil Ibrahim
It says Khalil Ibrahim was killed in fighting in the Wad Banda area in North Kordofan. The claim has not been independently verified. Khalil Ibrahim is known as the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement in conflict-torn Darfur. Earlier this…
December 25, 2011
Queen visits Prince Philip in hospital
Prince Philip has spent a second night in hospital after undergoing a procedure on his heart. The 90-year-old Duke of Edinburgh had a coronary stent fitted after he was taken to hospital on Friday suffering chest pains. The BBC's Royal Correspondent…
December 25, 2011
Nigeria conflict: Boko Haram sect battles kill scores
Nearly 70 people have died in days of fighting between Nigerian forces and suspected Islamist gunmen in the country's north-east, officials say. More than 50 Boko Haram militants were killed in a lengthy gun-battle in the town of Damaturu, said army…
December 25, 2011
Protesters take to Moscow streets, calling for fair elections
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets Saturday in Moscow, braving bitterly cold weather to demand fair elections after what they claim were rigged results earlier this month that returned Vladimir Putin's party to power. The protest,…
December 24, 2011
Bolt, Suarez leading Latina poll
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and Uruguayan footballer Luis Suarez have so far topped the poll for Sportsman Of The Year in Latin America and the Caribbean conducted by the Cuban news agency Prensa Latina. World record holder Bolt and ace striker…
December 24, 2011
NBA reduces player suspensions
The NBA has reduced suspensions for the Lakers' Andrew Bynum and the Pistons' Charlie Villanueva by one game because of the shortened season. The league on Friday trimmed one game off the five-game ban Bynum was given for knocking the Mavericks'…