Here are the prices of some key commodities traded in New York on Friday: Crude oil prices fell $2.47 to $96.20 per barrel. Coffee prices dropped nearly 5 cents to $2.63 per pound. Cocoa futures fell $95 to $3,091 per ton. Copper prices dropped 3 cents to $4.40 per pound. In Chicago trading, wheat prices […]
Spain’s Rubulcaba Resigns to Run for Prime Minister
Posted July 8th, 2011 at 3:45 pm (UTC-5)
Spain’s deputy prime minister, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, has resigned to concentrate on running for prime minister in general elections the ruling Socialist Party is expected to lose. Rubalcaba told reporters in Madrid Friday that Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero has been informed of his desire to leave the government and do so immediately. Rubalcaba […]
Buena Vista Social Club Guitarist, Manuel Galban, Dies
Posted July 8th, 2011 at 3:45 pm (UTC-5)
Manuel Galban, the internationally-renowned Cuban guitarist featured in the Buena Vista Social Club, has died of a heart attack in Havana. A statement from Galban’s publicist said the award-winning musician died Thursday. The publicist said it was a “sad day” for Cuban music and its fans, who he said will miss Galban’s “enormous impact worldwide” […]
Shuttle Atlantis Enters Earth Orbit on Final Mission
Posted July 8th, 2011 at 2:25 pm (UTC-5)
The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis entered Earth’s orbit Friday on a mission to the International Space Station — the 135th and final flight of the 30-year-old shuttle program. After days of rainy forecasts and cloudy weather, an estimated crowd of 1 million people watched the historic lift-off in and around the Kennedy Space Center in […]
Rival Rallies in Yemen Following President’s Speech
Posted July 8th, 2011 at 2:15 pm (UTC-5)
Thousands of Yemenis turned out for rival demonstrations on Friday, a day after President Ali Abdullah Saleh made his first public appearance since being injured in a June attack. Pro-government rallies took place in several cities, including the capital Sana’a, where the Associated Press says Mr. Saleh’s supporters gathered outside of his vacant presidential palace. […]
Turkmenistan Blasts Damage Town, Cause Remains Unclear
Posted July 8th, 2011 at 2:10 pm (UTC-5)
Reporters for Western news agencies in Turkmenistan say a series of explosions that shook a town near the capital, Ashgabat, caused heavy damage to residential areas. The journalists who visited the town of Abadan on Friday reported seeing streets covered in debris and houses and apartment blocks with smashed windows. Authorities had ordered residents to […]
China Floods Take a Toll: 70 Dead or Missing
Posted July 8th, 2011 at 2:10 pm (UTC-5)
China’s state-run news agency says at least 70 people are dead or missing after a week of heavy rains across the country. Xinhua Friday reported that the downpours and resulting floods and landslides have killed 49 people, with 21 others reported missing. In a statement, the National Disaster Reduction Commission has estimated nearly $1 billion […]
Indian Athletes Test Positive for Doping
Posted July 8th, 2011 at 1:45 pm (UTC-5)
Three Indian athletes have tested positive for banned substances. The director-general of India’s National Anti-Doping Agency said Friday that Sini Jose, Jauna Murmu and Tiana Mary Thomas will appear before a disciplinary panel after results from a second test or “B samples” tested positive. Jose, Murmu and Mary are all 400-meter runners and are among […]
Nearly Half a Million Protest in Syrian Flashpoint City, 13 Killed Nationwide
Posted July 8th, 2011 at 1:35 pm (UTC-5)
Nearly half a million people jammed the streets of the flashpoint Syrian city of Hama as activists said at least 13 people were killed nationwide Friday in the continuing backlash against President Bashar al-Assad. At least six deaths took place in the Damascus suburb of Dumair, where activists say security forces shot demonstrators. They say […]
Horn of Africa Drought Crisis Overwhelms Aid Agencies
Posted July 8th, 2011 at 1:30 pm (UTC-5)
United Nations and international relief agencies are appealing to the international community to help millions of people in the Horn of Africa who are suffering from the region’s worst drought in 60 years. The agencies say they are overstretched and underfunded in dealing with the drought crisis that is affecting Ethiopia, Kenya, central and southern […]
