AFP - The US envoy for North Korea is considering a Northeast Asian trip next week aimed at encouraging Pyongyang to resume nuclear disarmament talks, officials said, but it was unclear if the North would be on his itinerary.
AFP - Dhaka’s health minister said Thursday the government was on alert after Mexican officials confirmed one of eight people who died of swine flu there was from Bangladesh.
AP - For years, scientists have warned a global flu epidemic is imminent, but the world’s attention focused on bird flu not swine flu.
AFP - The US envoy for North Korea is considering a Northeast Asian trip next week aimed at encouraging Pyongyang to resume nuclear disarmament talks, officials said, but it was unclear if the North would be on his itinerary.
AFP - Dhaka’s health minister said Thursday the government was on alert after Mexican officials confirmed one of eight people who died of swine flu there was from Bangladesh.
Reuters - Telecom gear maker Ericsson (ERICb.ST) posted a smaller-than-expected fall in first-quarter net profit on Thursday and said the effect of the global downturn on the mobile network market remained limited.
"The ability to convey the depths of despair, the heights of jubilation and the serenity of an abiding faith are all that is required to be known as “The Voice.” Unfortunately, very few possess the ability to do all that and what’s more unfortunate, we lost one of those few–possibly the best of those few–with the death of Vern Gosdin at the age of 74."
Hard core country singer-songwriter Vern Gosdin, affectionally known as "The Voice", who achieved mainstream success in the ’80s with hits such as "Set ‘Em Up Joe" and "Chiseled in Stone," died peacefully in his sleep, late Tuesday (April 28), at a Nashville hospital.
His many timelss songs include the afore mentioned Chiseled in Stone (and live), Jesus Hold My Hand (with commentary), Do You Believe Me Now, Sarah’s Eyes, and Till The End.
"’The Voice’ is now silenced but he left behind an incredible legacy of recorded performances. Other than George Jones and Roy Orbison, the world has never known a performer as expressive and capable of conveying the emotions of loneliness, despair, desolation and heartbreak as Vern Gosdin."
Sit back with a bottle of Tanqueray, and salute one of the all time greats.
Reuters - Mexican President Felipe Calderon told his people to stay home from Friday for a five-day partial shutdown of the economy, after the World Health Organization said a swine flu pandemic was imminent.
Reuters - India’s wholesale price index rose 0.57 percent in the 12 months to April 18, above the previous week’s annual rise of 0.26 percent, government data showed on Thursday.
AFP - BASF, the world’s leading chemicals group, posted steep drops in first-quarter earnings on Thursday and warned of huge challenges ahead as key clients like the auto sector struggled amid a global recession.