Because Economics is Sexy...

The Vatican has rejected an apology by a British bishop who denied the full extent of the Holocaust.
It said the bishop needed to “unequivocally and publicly” withdraw his comments.
Earlier, Jewish leaders said the bishop had failed to address the issue of whether he believed that the Holocaust was a lie.
Richard Williamson said if he had [...]

Australia and New Zealand have signed a free trade agreement with Southeast Asian nations.
The deal, signed at the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin on Friday, is one of Asia’s largest trade arrangements.
It covers trade in goods, investment and services, financial services, [...]

Spanish police have arrested 11 people, including professional footballers and agents from Fifa, over alleged involvement in drugs smuggling.
Six hundred kilogrammes (1,320lb) of cocaine have been seized.
The Spanish authorities believe the suspects were using their football connections as a cover for drugs trafficking.
Spanish news reports claim one of the former players detained was with first [...]

Serbian ex-President Milan Milutinovic has been acquitted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Kosovo by a UN war crimes tribunal.
Five former top Serbian officials were found guilty on some or all the charges relating to the 1990s conflict. Their sentences range from 15 to 22 years.
It was the court’s first ruling [...]

Japan’s economy is sinking deeper into recession, the country’s finance minister has warned, as new figures show industrial production plunged a record 10 per cent in January.
“The recession is further affecting the real economy,” Kaoru Yosano, the finance minister, said on Friday.
The worst monthly fall in industrial output since record-keeping began in 1953 marks the [...]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Sony Corp (6758.T) said chief executive Howard Stringer would also assume the post of president as part of a management reshuffle, consolidating his grip over the struggling electronics maker.
Sony President Ryoji Chubachi will become a vice chairman, the company said in a release.
The management shake-up comes about a month after Sony warned [...]

Investigations are continuing into what caused a Turkish Airlines plane to crash at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, killing nine people and injuring 84.
The plane, en route from Istanbul with 127 passengers and seven crew, crashed short of the runway on Wednesday.
Three of those killed were members of the crew. Dutch officials said most of the passengers [...]

A former Estonian defence ministry official who sold Nato secrets to Russia has been sent to jail for 12 and a half years after a secret trial.
Herman Simm, a former head of security, pleaded guilty to treason on Wednesday.
The court where he was tried did not reveal which country he spied for, but investigators said [...]

Bangladeshi paramilitary forces have begun mutinying over pay at barracks across the country after fighting with border guards in the capital Dhaka subsided.
Military sources said sporadic fighting had broken out on Thursday at dozens of barracks for the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), the border security force.
“There are 46 baracks across the country, and there are [...]

A prominent Kurdish politician has defied Turkish law by giving a speech to parliament in his native Kurdish.
Ahmet Turk was addressing his party in parliament when he suddenly switched language from Turkish to Kurdish.
The live broadcast on state TV was immediately cut, as the language is banned in parliament.
Some one-fifth of Turkey’s population are ethnic [...]