International Headline News

Date: Sun, Feb 28, 2010 at 8:02 PM
>TOP STORIES as of 0900 HKT -- 01 March, 2010

> DEATH TOLL IN CHILE EARTHQUAKE PASSES 700
The death toll from the 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile has
risen to 708, the government says.

> OLYMPICS: CANADA CLAIMS FINAL GOLD
Canada reserved the best to last as its ice hockey heroes beat
arch-rivals the United States 3-2 with an overtime goal from
Sidney Crosby to claim the final gold of the Winter Olympics.

> STORM BATTERS EUROPE, AT LEAST 55 DEAD
A winter storm named "Xynthia" battered the western coast of
Europe Sunday, its high winds downing trees and power lines and
leaving as many as 23 people dead, authorities said.

> SPAIN: LEADING TERROR SUSPECT ARRESTED
Police arrested the suspected top leader of the Basque
separatist group ETA early Sunday along with two other senior
suspects from the outlawed armed group, Spain's Interior
Ministry said.

> HAMAS LEADER 'DRUGGED, SUFFOCATED'
The British Embassy in Israel plans to interview the British
nationals whose identities were stolen and passports used in a
plot to kill a Hamas leader.

> AL QAEDA GROUP IN KIDNAPPING CLAIM
Al Qaeda's north African wing has released a picture of an
Italian man whom it says it has kidnapped and has set a 25-day
deadline for the Italian government to meet its demands.

> ISRAEL'S BARAK CALLS FOR IRAN SANCTIONS
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called Saturday for new
sanctions against Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions,
encouraging the financial pressure to continue "until it becomes
effective."

BUSINESS
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> REPORT: AIG NEAR $35B ASIA DEAL
American International Group Inc., majority owned by the U.S.
government after a massive bailout, is close to a $35.5 billion
deal to sell its Asian life insurance operations to Britain's
Prudential PLC.

> LLOYDS LOSSES NARROW TO $9.6B
Lloyds Banking Group has reported a £6.3bn ($9.6bn) underlying
pre-tax loss for 2009, a slight improvement on the £6.7bn
deficit recorded a year earlier.

> GOLDMAN ROLE IN GREEK CRISIS PROBED
The US central bank is looking into Goldman Sachs's role in
arranging contentious derivatives trades for Greece, which
helped the country to massage its public finances, Ben Bernanke,
chairman of the Federal Reserve, revealed on Thursday.