Batman wins weekend box office again, nears new record

Batman blockbuster “The Dark Knight” conquered the North American box office for a third straight weekend and was close to smashing the record for the fastest film to gross 400 million dollars, estimates showed Sunday. Director Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to 2005′s “Batman Begins” grabbed another 43.8 million dollars over the weekend, pushing its three-week take [...]

World trade talks end in collapse

Marathon talks in Geneva aimed at liberalising global trade have collapsed, the head of the World Trade Organisation has said. Pascal Lamy confirmed the failure, which officials have blamed on China, India and the US failing to agree on import rules. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said the result was “heartbreaking”. The talks were launched [...]

US donates additional P28.6M, says battle group helps in recovery, rehab

MANILA, Philippines – The United States Embassy on Friday announced that it was donating an additional P28.6 million to aid victims of typhoon Frank. At the same time, it said that the US carrier battle group has been closely coordinating with local civil and military authorities in rescue, recovery and disaster relief efforts for typhoon-ravaged [...]

10,000 OFWs in CNMI to benefit as US House OKs immigration bill

CAPITAL HILL, Saipan – The US House of Representatives passed on Tuesday in Washington, DC (Wednesday morning in Manila) an omnibus bill applying federal immigration law in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) which is seen to improve the immigration status of about 10,000 overseas Filipinos workers (OFWs) there. Majority of the House [...]

RP stocks higher in mid-trade ahead of US Fed meet

MANILA, Philippines- Local stocks were trading significantly higher in mid-trade on Tuesday as investors awaited the results of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting on policy rates. As of 10:53 a.m., the Philippine Stock Exchange composite index had gained 23.54 points or 0.86 percent at 2,762.98 while the broader all shares index had risen 7.39 points [...]

US blocks genetic discrimination

DNA tests can reveal predisposition to a wide range of diseases The United States Senate has unanimously passed legislation banning discrimination on the basis of people’s genetic details. The proposal, which passed 95-0, still needs approval from the House of Representatives before it becomes law. It would allow only patients and their doctors to access [...]

US row over China-made blood drug

Professor Jin Shaohong was adamant that the problem is not with China Chinese officials have rejected claims by US authorities that Chinese imports are to blame for deaths among users of the blood-thinning drug heparin. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says a contaminant sourced to a Chinese factory has been found in heparin [...]

Video game sales in US soar 57 percent in March

NEW YORK – Led by stellar sales of Nintendo’s games and systems, US retail sales of video games jumped 57 percent to $1.7 billion in March, market researcher NPD Group reported Thursday. “You’d never know that the US economy was under distress by looking at the video games industry sales figures,” said NPD analyst Anita [...]

U.S. teen pregnancy rate near historic low

CHICAGO — The teen pregnancy rate in the United States has fallen to historic lows, abortion rates have declined dramatically and more women are having children out of wedlock, a study published Monday said. The teen pregnancy rate dropped 38 percent from 1990 to 2004, with abortion rates down by half and birth rates down [...]