Malaysia sodomy trial halted
The high-profile sodomy trial of Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian opposition leader, has been temporarily halted after his lawyers moved to have the presiding judge disqualified. Judge adjourned the trial on Monday, and the following day will hear an

Sri Lankan opposition leader 'dragged away'
Sarath Fonseka, the main opposition candidate in last month's presidential election in Sri Lanka, was tonight arrested at his party's offices. General Fonseka, a retired four-star general who lost to President Mahinda Rajapakse in the January 26 vote,

Yanukovich wins presidential election
KIEV, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich beat competitor Yulia Tymoshenko in Sunday's presidential runoff by a small margin, with 98 percent of the ballots counted, preliminary official results showed Monday. Yanukovich

S Lanka election loser arrested
The defeated candidate in Sri Lanka's presidential election, Gen Sarath Fonseka, has been arrested, news reports have said. Gen Fonseka was defeated by incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa last month by six million votes to four million. Gen Fonseka rejected the

Met boss Dizaei jailed for corruption
Metropolitan Police Commander Ali Dizaei is sentenced to four years for misconduct and perverting the course of justice.

Skier survives 17 hours under avalanche
A young skier who was buried beneath an avalanche for 17 hours has been pulled from the snow with only mild hypothermia, Swiss police say. The 21-year-old man appears to have survived because he was trapped next to a pocket of air that allowed him to

Monsanto, Dow Argentina Chemical Sales Soar as Rains Favor Bugs
Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Monsanto Co., Dow Chemical Co. and BASF SE said pesticide sales in Argentina are booming as farmers fight to save a record soy crop from insect and fungi attacks. Dow’s AgroSciences unit expects record pesticide sales this year

Ethel Austin goes into administration
The snowy weather that gripped the UK last month has helped to push discount clothing chain Ethel Austin into administration. Over 3,700 jobs were put at risk today when administrators from MCR took control of the company and its sister firm Au

Tullow looks to China and Total after Heritage Ugandan deal
The long running saga of the Ugandan oil assets jointly owned by Tullow Oil Heritage had put its half share of the fields up for sale and accepted a $1.5bn bid from Italy's Eni, before Tullow stepped in to exercise its pre-emption rights. Much depended

U.S. Won't Renegotiate UBS Tax Deal, Report Says
The United States is unwilling to re-enter talks to alter a key deal struck with Switzerland to end a damaging tax case against Swiss banking group UBS, the U.S. ambassador in Berne was quoted saying in a Swiss Sunday paper. “The United States does not

Hanmi Financial seeks deal
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Hanmi Financial Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!hafc/quotes/nls/hafc (HAFC 1.73, -0.04, -2.26%) said Monday that it has appointed Cappello Capital as financial advisers to "explore a broad range of strategic alternatives for the

SAP chief Leo Apotheker resigns
Leo Apotheker had been with SAP for more than 20 years The chief executive of German software company SAP, Leo Apotheker, has resigned after his contract was not renewed, the company has said. SAP said the decision not to renew the contract was reached