SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM: Investors fear a possible default on billions of dollars in loans to Dubai that could plunge financial markets back into uncertainty and bring on a crisis
By Joyce Huang
Affected by market concerns about local banks’ exposure to Dubai World’s debt woes, the TAIEX closed down 3.21 percent yesterday, the biggest decline since July 13.

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Investors recoiled from risky assets yesterday and dumped shares in Asian banks and builders, fearing a Dubai debt default could reignite the financial turmoil of the credit crisis.

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By Jimmy Chuang
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has denied a link between swine flu vaccinations and reports of children feeling unwell after receiving the shot.

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RACIST?: Anti-immigration, rightwing populists behind the vote gained popularity with a poster showing three white sheep kicking a black sheep off Switzerland’s flag
The Swiss will decide this weekend whether to ban minarets on mosques in what is in effect the first direct vote in a European country on Islam and the practices of Muslims.

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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was to embrace the central thrust of General Stanley McChrystal’s report into the future of Afghanistan when he spoke yesterday of the need to develop a military and political “push.”

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