International Headlines

Date: Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 8:02 PM
TOP STORIES as of 0800 HKT -- 01 April, 2010

> INTERNATIONAL DONORS PLEDGE ALMOST $10 BILLION FOR HAITI
A broad array of international donors pledge nearly $10 billion
in long-term assistance to Haiti's earthquake recovery efforts
during a daylong U.N. conference.

> CHECHEN REBEL CLAIMS MOSCOW ATTACK
Chechen rebel leader Dokku Umarov claims he personally ordered
attacks on Moscow's subway system, killing 39 people, according
to a Chechen rebel Web site

> DEATH DATE SET IN SAUDI 'SORCERY' CASE
A Lebanese television presenter sentenced to death for sorcery
in Saudi Arabia is set to be beheaded on Friday, the man's
lawyer said Wednesday.

> OBAMA ENERGY PLAN TO EXPAND DRILLING
President Obama today announced plans to open large parts of
U.S. coastal waters in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico to
oil and natural gas drilling.

> SERB LAWMAKERS CONDEMN MASSACRE
Serb lawmakers have voted to officially condemn the 1995
massacre by Bosnian Serb forces of thousands of Muslim men and
boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.

> JUDGE OKS PROBE OF KENYA VIOLENCE
Pretrial judges at the International Criminal Court on Wednesday
authorized a prosecutor to investigate Kenya's post-election
violence, a move that could lead to key leaders facing charges
at The Hague.

> UK PANEL CLEARS 'CLIMATEGATE' SCIENTIST
The UK scientist at the center of the "Climategate" controversy
over leaked e-mails has been cleared of hiding or manipulating
data by a parliamentary committee.

> SOUTH KOREAN SAILOR SEARCH SUSPENDED
The South Korean military suspended its search for missing
sailors Wednesday because of high winds spawned by stormy
weather, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

.

BUSINESS
~~~~~~~~~~~

> THE RISE OF CHINESE LUXURY BRANDS
Shop at any of the high end stores in Hong Kong and it's easy to
see why luxury brands love Chinese shoppers.

> EMI SCRAPS TALKS TO SELL AMERICAS RIGHTS
EMI has abandoned talks about a rescue deal to sell off its
distribution rights in the Americas due to concerns about price,
timing and whether the sale could be blocked by Citigroup,
holder of all of the music group's £3.2 billion ($4.8B) debts.

> BSKYB ORDERED TO SELL SPORT TO RIVALS
Ofcom ruled on Wednesday that British Sky Broadcasting must sell
Premier League football and other premium programming to rivals.