Brazil's president criticised Israeli policies towards the Palestinians, warning that Israel's separation barrier, its blockade of Gaza and its continued settlement building was extinguishing the candle of hope.
European astronomers have found a planet outside our solar system with a relatively moderate temperature, far cooler than other “exoplanets” discovered to date. The planet Corot-9b has an estimated surface temperature between 160 C and -20 C. It has about 80% of the mass of Jupiter and its orbit is similar to that of Mercury.
Four major banks have been ordered to stand trial in Italy in a fraud case related to derivatives trading. JP Morgan Chase, UBS, Deutsche Bank and Germany's Depfa bank have been told they will be tried for aggravated fraud, along with 13 other people. The charges relate to the sale of derivates to the city of Milan.
The World Bank raised its China growth forecast this year to 9.5% from 9% but said Beijing needs to cool inflation and possible bubbles in real estate prices.
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel says she wants the Euro-zone to be able to exclude one of its members in future if that is necessary to avert a crisis. Mrs Merkel told the German Bundestag (parliament) that existing EU rules were not strong enough to deal with the current crisis triggered by Greece.
Facebook has beaten Google to become the most visited website in the US for the first time. The social networking website knocked the search engine off the top spot for the week ending March 13, according to industry analysts Experian Hitwise.
On St. Patrick's Day—Wednesday, March 17—millions of people will don green and celebrate the Irish with parades, good cheer, and perhaps a pint of beer. But few St. Patrick's Day revelers have a clue about St. Patrick, the man, according to the author of St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will travel to Argentina on April 14 and 15, the first official visit by a Russian head of state in 125 years of bilateral relations, the Argentine Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
More than one in two Chinese savers regard the current inflation rate as unacceptable, according to a central bank survey that is likely to fan official concern about deteriorating inflation expectations.
A British expat who claims to have no gender is thought to have become the first person to be officially recognized as neither male nor female.