government news

Iraqi government spokesman says Cabinet approves security pact with United...

Federal safety officials worry that the economic downturn will drive discount-seeking parents to buy used toys tainted by lead or with dangerous designs. Government safety officials are particularly concerned that money-conscious parents will purchase...

BRITAIN's beleaguered carmakers are to make their first appeal for direct financial assistance from the government this week, asking for cheap loans to fund their finance arms and help the restructuring of their manufacturing operations.

NEW YORK -- First came the banks looking for a federal rescue plan to stay afloat. Next it was the automakers seeking a bailout. And now state governments say they, too, need emergency federal assistance to remain solvent.

In this brutal season of cutbacks, the office holiday party is getting downsized, too. From American Express to MTV to the city government in Bend, Ore., employers are canceling Christmas celebrations because of the gloomy economy. At some other workplaces,...

General Motors Corp has been telling U.S. government officials that a bankruptcy filing by the automaker would set off a chain reaction hitting hundreds of its suppliers and dealers as well as its Detroit rivals, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

It has been quite a week for virtual worlds, the three-dimensional sector of the internet where people can live a parallel existence with their own avatar or alter ego. The world's most profitable virtual game, World of Warcraft, which has more than 11 million paying participants, released a long-awaited expansion that generated midnight queues as enthusiasts vied with each other to steal a march in the new version. The Chinese government, realising that virtual worlds are an unstoppable phenomenon, announced it was planning to impose a 20 per cent tax on profits earned within them rather than, as hitherto, banning such virtual transactions. And a British couple who got married after meeting in Second Life are divorcing after the wife caught her husband chatting up another woman in the virtual world.The name of his avatar in Second Life is 'Barmy', a word often used about people who spend time in these virtual worlds, such as myself. But our detractors have usually never experienced th