WASHINGTON – Nobody knows exactly when America would default on its bills if Congress fails to raise a cap on government borrowing. But the recent past gives a pretty good idea of how a default could unfold. Even the Treasury Department can’t know how much tax revenue will come in each day after October 17,…
ROME – At least 94 people have died after a boat carrying African migrants sank off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, the island’s mayor says. More than 150 have been rescued but about 200 are missing, officials say. Passengers reportedly threw themselves into the sea as the vessel got into trouble and Italian officials…
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has postponed two stops on his four-nation Asian tour because of the government shutdown. The White House said it was “logistically… not possible” to go ahead with the trips to Malaysia and the Philippines at the end of his tour. But he would still be attending regional summits in Indonesia…
WASHINGTON – Financial markets have been hit by the prospect of a US government shutdown and a crisis for Italy’s government. Italy’s stock market has fallen almost 2%, while shares in London, Frankfurt and Paris have dropped by about 1%. The US needs to agree a new spending bill before the financial year ends at…
ISLAMABAD – A powerful earthquake has killed at least 238 people in Pakistan’s remote south-west province of Balochistan. The 7.7-magnitude quake struck on Tuesday afternoon at a depth of 20km (13 miles) north-east of Awaran, the US Geological Survey said. Many houses were flattened and thousands of people have spent the night in the open….
BERLIN – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party has won Germany’s election, but finished just short of an absolute majority, official results show.Mrs Merkel urged her party to celebrate “a super result” as she looked set for a historic third term. Her conservative bloc took about 41.5% of the vote – but her liberal partners failed…
DAMASCUS – The chief UN weapons inspector says it will be difficult to find and destroy all of Syria’s chemical weapons, but he believes it is achievable. Ake Sellstrom told the BBC much depended on whether Damascus and the opposition were willing to negotiate. He said his team concluded after a visit to Syria that…
CANBERRA – Australia’s Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott has unveiled his new cabinet, calling it a highly experienced line-up. The appointments broadly followed the line up while in opposition, but included a major promotion for finance. As expected Julie Bishop became foreign minister – the only woman to be named to Mr Abbott’s frontbench. Mr Abbott…
MOSCOW – Russians and Americans have been duking it out in the Twitter world over who’s scoring more points in high-stakes diplomatic wrangling over Syria, U.S. President Barack Obama or Russian President Vladimir Putin. Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, tweeted Thursday: “Three days ago there seemed no diplomatic way to hold Assad…
WASHINGTON – Russia’s plan to dismantle Syria’s chemical arsenal is “doable but difficult”, according to US officials. The Russian and US foreign ministers are due to hold talks in Geneva over the plan, which involves Syria handing its stockpile to foreign observers. Both sides are taking teams of experts, saying the disarmament process could be…
