HSBC to probe ‘criminal’ accounts

9 November 2012 Last updated at 04:23 ETHSBC bank says it is looking into allegations that criminals have used offshore accounts at its Jersey operation for money laundering. The bank issued a statement after the Daily Telegraph newspaper said it was at the centre of a major investigation by HM Revenue and Customs.HSBC...

Read More..

Assad says will live and die in Syria

DOHA (Reuters) – President Bashar al-Assad said he would “live and die” in Syria and warned that any Western invasion to topple him would have catastrophic consequences for the Middle East and beyond.Assad’s defiant remarks coincided with a landmark meeting in Qatar on Thursday of Syria’s fractious opposition to hammer out an agreement on a new umbrella...

Read More..

Roger Waters plays with band of wounded veterans

NEW YORK (AP) — Roger Waters honored wounded veterans in New York by performing with them at the annual Stand Up for Heroes benefit, Thursday night.The founding member of Pink Floyd took to the stage of the Beacon Theater with 14 wounded soldiers he met recently at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He rehearsed with them at the hospital,...

Read More..

Exclusive: SEC left computers vulnerable to cyber attacks – sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Staffers at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission failed to encrypt some of their computers containing highly sensitive information from stock exchanges, leaving the data vulnerable to cyber attacks, according to people familiar with the matter.While the computers were unprotected, there was no evidence that hacking or spying...

Read More..

Malaria vaccine disappoints in African babies trial

LONDON (Reuters) – A GlaxoSmithKline experimental malaria vaccine touted as a new weapon in the fight to eradicate the deadly disease proved only 30 percent effective when given to African babies in a crucial clinical trial.The surprisingly poor result leaves uncertain whether the vaccine will have a useful role to play in fighting the mosquito-borne disease...

Read More..

DIY homes ‘should be made easier’

7 November 2012 Last updated at 19:06 ETBy Kevin Peachey Personal finance reporter, BBC News Homeowners should not consider it a “pie in the sky dream” to build their own property, according to the new housing minister.Mark Prisk told mortgage lenders that self-built homes should be considered as one way to boost the...

Read More..

Ghana building collapse traps dozens, kills 1

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — A five-story shopping center built earlier this year in a bustling suburb of Ghana‘s capital collapsed Wednesday, killing at least one person and leaving several dozen people trapped in the rubble, authorities and eyewitnesses said.Rescue crews used cranes to try and remove debris from the top of the building amid fears that machinery...

Read More..

“Ode to Joy” for Royal Philharmonic Society’s 200th

LONDON (Reuters) – The British music society that commissioned Beethoven to write his Ninth Symphony and its “Ode to Joy” announced on Wednesday it will celebrate the society’s 2013 bicentenary by showing off its manuscript of the work on both sides of the Atlantic.The Royal Philharmonic Society, founded in London in January, 1813, also will sponsor performances...

Read More..

BlackBerry 10 maker dismisses ‘dead on arrival’ comment about new device

OTTAWA – Research In Motion turned to core supporters Wednesday in Ottawa, hoping to upsell its new BlackBerry 10 operating system as the company’s shares fell after a biting report from a securities analyst.The company (TSX:RIM) invited federal politicians and their staff to a sneak preview of the yet-to-be-released devices, an event that RIM’s Canadian...

Read More..

Novartis says expects to have 14 new blockbusters by 2017

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Novartis said its pharmaceutical division could produce 14 or more blockbusters by 2017 as it bets on the success of its oncology pipeline, and heart and respiratory drugs.Novartis said it had 139 projects in clinical development including more than 73 new molecular entities spread across a wide area of diseases, in a...

Read More..