US approves sanctions against Ivory Coast's Gbagbo

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — The United States approved travel sanctions on Laurent Gbagbo and 30 of his allies Tuesday as pressure mounted on the incumbent leader to step down following last month's presidential election that the international community says he lost.

Meanwhile, the U.N. refugee agency said that some 6,200 people already have fled the West African country's postelection violence, and regional leaders called on Gbagbo to "yield power with dignity without further delay."

The rebuke from neighboring nations carries added weight because Gbagbo's representatives have dismissed similar calls from former colonizer France and other Western nations as foreign …

Obama confident oil prices will stabilize

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says he is confident that markets will be able to ride out the situation in Libya and the price of oil will stabilize.

Obama made the brief comments Thursday during a discussion with his new competitiveness council.

He said that energy costs are generally a source …

Thai Yamaki Starting Sales in Singapore Market

Thai Yamaki Co., Ltd. was established in 1989. In September 2004, the company created the Thai Operation Center (Thai OPC) and made a decision to operate the improvement of quality and new projects from Bangkok as the center. That is meaningful in the context that the company can exercise control from Thailand to neighboring countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Probably Yamaki is one of the most successful firms among Japanese shirt apparel firms in overseas production. Beginning from its advance into Taiwan in the 1960s, the company has successfully advanced its factories to Thailand, Bangladesh, Shanghai and Laos.

Shirt production in Thailand is done with 410 …

Paul McCartney granted preliminary divorce decree

A judge in London has granted a preliminary decree of divorce for former Beatle Paul McCartney and Heather Mills.

Justice Hugh Bennett says the divorce could …

Lawyers: police cite hundreds just for cursing

Pennsylvania police wrongly charged hundreds of people with disorderly conduct for swearing, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a pair of free-speech lawsuits filed Wednesday.

ACLU lawyers reviewed 770 disorderly conduct citations issued by Pennsylvania State Police in a recent one-year span. They said they found that while officers applied the law correctly in some cases, the majority involved profanities and other legal, nonobscene speech.

The lawsuits' plaintiffs are a pizza delivery driver briefly jailed for cursing at a local officer over a parking ticket and a woman cited by state police for hurling a derogatory name at a swerving …

Dow Takes Last-Hour Tumble

NEW YORK The stock market tumbled in the last hour of tradingWednesday, pulled down in part by bank stocks and homebuildingshares.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 22.42 points to 3,307.06.

Volume was 186.71 million shares as of 4 p.m., up from 169.90million in the previous session.

Until the late afternoon, the market was relatively quiet anddirectionless ahead of President Bush's speech Thursday before theRepublican convention in Houston. Shares then dropped sharply,ending near the day's lows.

Bank stocks, which were heavily traded, helped drag down themarket, said Hugh Johnson, senior vice president with First AlbanyCorp. Citicorp fell 1 …

Madonna set to debut her film on duke and duchess

NEW YORK (AP) — The focus in the days ahead is on Madonna the musician.

She's set to perform the halftime show at the Super Bowl on Sunday and her new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'," with the white-hot Nicki Minaj, hits radio airwaves this week.

But the 53-year-old superstar is surely hoping that some of that spotlight will shine on her new movie, "W.E.," about the celebrated romance between divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson and Britain's King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne for love in the 1930s.

"To me their lives were so diverse, complex and interesting, and there were so many different points of view to approach the story from," said Madonna during …