Author: AFP

General Electric in $1.5b US settlement on subprime mortgages

NEW YORK: The Justice Department announced Friday that General Electric has agreed to pay $1.5 billion over subprime mortgages, finalizing a settlement on conduct prior to the 2008 financial crisis. GE had announced a preliminary agreement on the subprime case in January, but the Department of Justice (DOJ) said the matter

WHO : Global life expectancy up 5.5 years since 2000

Global life expectancy grew by 5.5 years between 2000 and 2016, the World Health Organization said Thursday, warning though that unequal income and access to healthcare translates into far shorter lives for many. The UN health agency also stressed significant gender differences in life expectancy worldwide. On average, a child

Push to cure hepatitis B, a neglected disease

A coalition of researchers, health organisations and patient groups on Wednesday launched an ambitious campaign to cure hepatitis B, a disease that kills twice as many people as malaria but gets far less attention. “Inexplicably, despite the huge human and economic toll of chronic hepatitis B (HBV), research remains largely underfunded,”

Canada to ban breast implants linked to rare cancer

Canada said Thursday it aims to soon suspend the sales in this country a type of breast implant that has been linked to a rare form of cancer. The announcement comes after France banned the types of implants with a textured surface or polyurethane coating, and after the US Food

Quake-hit Indonesians refuse to return home

LUWUK (Indonesia): Some panicked residents of a quake-hit Indonesian island have refused to return home after the tremor triggered a brief tsunami warning and fears there was more to come, the disaster agency said yesterday. Aftershocks rippled across the east coast of Sulawesi – an island where thousands were killed

Canada couple and brewer create new Atlantic Ocean salt beer

OTTAWA: A Canadian couple that harvest Atlantic sea salt has teamed up with a brew master friend to create a new salt beer – which could become the first drink of its kind to be widely distributed. Salty-sour gose beers had been brewed for about a thousand years in Germany

Derailed cargo train kills six, hits house in central China

BEIJING: Rescuers have recovered the bodies of six people in central China after a cargo train carrying aluminium ore hurtled off the tracks and crushed a house, local authorities said Friday. At around 10pm on Wednesday the 25-car train derailed from an escape siding and overturned, hitting a house in

Man’s clothing fire sparks White House emergency

WASHINGTON: Secret Service agents rushed to secure the White House on Friday after they said a man set his jacket on fire just outside the fence. The Secret Service, which guards the president, said a man “operating an electronic wheelchair-type scooter lit his outer jacket on fire while sitting along

Thai new year splashes in with water fights, raves

BANGKOK: Water-spraying elephants, raves and boisterous, street-blocking water fights – Thailand’s Buddhist new year arrived with a splash yesterday, a once calm festival now celebrated with a more raucous edge. Paying respects to elders and sprinkling water over figures of Buddha at local temples are some of the traditions of

Axelsen survives Christie scare in S’pore Open

SINGAPORE: Viktor Axelsen saved two match points before winning 22-24 21-18 24-22 against Jonatan Christie in a classic Singapore Open men’s singles quarter-final Friday, the Dane staying consistent at key moments to edge out his opponent. The pair started the match with a 45-shot rally to set the tone for