Oil extended a rebound Friday, rising above US$126 a barrel after several declines over the past two weeks, although the market remains weighed down by the belief that flagging fuel demand does not justify the recent high prices. Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose 64 cents to US$126.13 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by early afternoon in Singapore. The contract rose US$1.05 to settle at US$125.49 a barrel on Thursday.
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South Korea's Samsung Electronics said Friday that second-quarter net profit grew 51 percent compared with the same quarter last year led by its liquid crystal display and mobile phone businesses. "We posted very strong results," Chu Woo-sik, executive vice president of investor relations, told analysts on a conference call.
Asia stock markets fell sharply Friday as an overnight drop on Wall Street and more concerns about the U.S. housing and financial sectors led many investors to take profits after a recent rally. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index shed almost 2 percent to 13,336.74. Benchmarks in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, India and Taiwan also retreated around 2 percent or more.
Japan's Honda Motor Co. reported record profit for a fiscal first quarter Friday as sales growth in new markets offset the damage from a stronger yen and soaring material costs. Honda earned 179.6 billion yen (US$1.68 billion) in the April-June quarter, up 8.1 percent from the same period the previous year.
A Qantas flight en route to Australia from London made an emergency stop in Manila on Friday after a loud bang punched a hole in the Boeing 747-400's fuselage, officials and passengers said. There were no injuries, but some of the 350 passengers vomited after disembarking, said Manila International Airport Authority deputy manager for operations Octavio Lina.
South Korea's economy expanded 0.8 percent in the second quarter compared with the previous three months, the Bank of Korea said Friday, boosted by gains in exports and manufacturing. Private consumption, which is mostly consumer spending and accounts for about half the economy, was a drag on growth, declining 0.1 percent. Expansion was also suppressed by a 2.4 percent contraction in the construction sector. Other Business Stories
- Big hole in fuselage prompts Qantas flight to makes emergency stop in Manila
- Oil rises above US$126 as recent lows prompt fresh buying; falling fuel demand still weighs
- Tongan king sells business assets ahead of coronation, political reform
- Air New Zealand says it may lift fares 5th time this year to cover its fuel costs
- Air Mauritius flight catches fire while taking off in India, 241 passengers safely evacuated
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White House hopeful Barack Obama fired back at Republican foe John McCain in a new row over Iraq, as his Europe and Middle East tour Friday took him to France, after a massive campaign event in Berlin. As rave reviews greeted his soaring speech on mending transatlantic ties before 200,000 people on Thursday, the Democratic White House nominee was due in Paris for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
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US actor Danny Glover, who plans an epic next year on Haitian independence hero Toussaint-Louverture, said he slaved to raise funds for the movie because financiers complained there were no white heroes. "Producers said 'It's a nice project, a great project... where are the white heroes?'" he told AFP during a stay in Paris this month for a seminar on film.
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Cadel Evans has been tipped to overhaul his 1min 34sec deficit to Spanish rival Carlos Sastre ahead of their duel for the Tour de France yellow jersey in the final time trial on Saturday. Sastre, who rides for the CSC team run by former Tour winner Bjarne Riis, stole the limelight on the final day in the Alps Wednesday by taking the lead thanks to a victorious attack at the bottom of the 13.8 km climb to the Alpe d'Huez.
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A Qantas Boeing 747 flying to Melbourne made an emergency landing in Manila on Friday after a dramatic mid-air rupture that left a "gaping hole" in its fuselage, officials and passengers said. Stunned passengers reported how the jumbo, which had taken off from London and stopped in Hong Kong, plunged 20,000 feet (6,000) metres in what one said was an "absolutely terrifying" ordeal.
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Internet security researchers on Thursday warned that hackers have caught on to a "critical" flaw that lets them control traffic on the Internet. An elite squad of computer industry engineers that labored in secret to solve the problem released a software "patch" two weeks ago and sought to keep details of the vulnerability hidden at least a month to give people time to protect computers from attacks.
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