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Maritime pirates are honing their tactics and beefing up their weaponry. Here are the world’s most pirate-infested waters, and learn about individual attacks from each place.
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HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.-- Republican White House challenger Mitt Romney conferred with his debate practice partner while President Barack Obama exercised before his final study review for Tuesday's debate, both hoping it would help them pull ahead in the razor-tight race.
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JOHANNESBURG-- Mine bosses have aggravated South Africa's labor unrest by dismissing striking mineworkers, the Congress of South African Trade Unions said Tuesday, voicing strong support for thousands of workers who have staged wildcat strikes at gold and platinum mines across the country.
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RICHMOND, Va.-- Cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc., which sells Marlboro and other brands abroad, expects a slowdown in the third quarter as it laps large cigarette volume gains last year. Philip Morris International has compensated for consumers buying fewer, or cheaper, cigarettes _ and for the weak economy _ by cutting costs and raising prices.
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LAGOS, Nigeria-- "FELA LIVES," reads the Gothic-lettered tattoo on the back of one of the sons of the legendary Afrobeat singer from Nigeria. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti died 15 years ago but his name seems to be mentioned more now than ever.
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LONDON-- Judges are choosing the winner of Britain's most prestigious literary trophy from a shortlist that includes novels set in the court of King Henry VIII and the opium dens of Mumbai. Mantel would be the first British author to win the Booker twice, joining double winners Peter Carey of Australia and J.M. Coetzee of South Africa.
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Vikram Pandit, who steered Citigroup through the 2008 financial crisis and the choppy years that followed, abruptly left the bank on Tuesday, stepping down as CEO and as a director. A second top executive resigned as part of the shake-up: President and Chief Operating Officer John Havens, who also served as CEO of Citi's Institutional Client Group.
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CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y.-- Mark Hotton appeared on the high-stakes Broadway theater scene out of nowhere this year, offering to come to the financial rescue of a fledgling Broadway adaptation of the psychological thriller "Rebecca."
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GENEVA-- Switzerland has blocked almost 1 billion Swiss francs linked to rulers in four Arab Spring nations, a senior government official said Tuesday.
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NEW YORK-- Citigroup Inc. says Vikram Pandit is stepping down as CEO and a board member. The New York bank's new CEO will be Michael Corbat, the CEO of the company's Europe, Middle East and Africa division. Pandit says that "now is the right time for someone else to take the helm at Citigroup" after the bank "emerged from the financial crisis as a strong institution."
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Mattel and UnitedHealth posted strong results for the third quarter. Goldman Sachs and Johnson& Johnson both beat Wall Street expectations. The Coca-Cola Co. says its net income rose 3 percent.
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MADRID-- Four people went on trial Tuesday for their role in the sinking of an oil tanker in Spain's northwestern coast in 2002, triggering one of Europe's biggest environmental catastrophes. The defendants include the ship's Greek captain Apostolos Mangouras, 77, his first officer and the former director general of Spain's Merchant Marine.
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JOHANNESBURG-- Some 200,000 workers across South Africa will stop working later this week to protest official corruption and poor pay, a spokesman for the South African Municipal Workers' Union said, in action that will increase pressure on an economy already reeling from the impact of wildcat strikes in the crucial mining sector.
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LOS ANGELES-- Liam Neeson's "Taken 2" has defended its box-office title with a narrow win over Ben Affleck's "Argo." Sony's "Here Comes the Boom," with Kevin James as a teacher who becomes a mixed martial arts sensation, started weakly at No. 5 with $12 million.
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Mark Mobius, Templeton Emerging Markets Group, discusses the best places to invest around the world.
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TOKYO-- Global financial ministers called Saturday for quick and effective action to safeguard faltering economic growth and rebuild shaken confidence as they ended an annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund.
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TOKYO-- Despite making progress on getting its fiscal house in order, the United States still has much work to do, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told fellow financial leaders Saturday.
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JOHANNESBURG-- A strike by 20,000 truckers in South Africa ended Friday with an agreement to increase wages, said the strikers' union. The truckers signed a three-year wage deal that gives them a 10 percent pay raise in the first year, said Vincent Masoga, spokesman for the South African Transport and Allied Workers' Union.
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JOHANNESBURG, Oct 12- Standard& Poor's cut South Africa's credit rating one notch on Friday to BBB with a negative outlook, saying mining strikes and social tensions could reduce fiscal flexibility and hurt growth in the continent's biggest economy. It was trading at 8.75 at 1737 GMT, from 8.65 just before the announcement.
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JOHANNESBURG, Oct 12- South Africa's rand weakened on Friday after ratings agency S&P downgraded the country's local and foreign currency sovereign ratings, saying underlying social tensions would increase government spending pressure and reduce fiscal flexibility.
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GENEVA, Oct 12- West African crude oil differentials were assessed slightly lower on Friday as traders reported slow sales for the remaining November cargoes due partly to Chinese refinery outages.