WASHINGTON - A MEXICAN toddler in Texas became the first confirmed swine flu death outside of Mexico as authorities around the world struggled to contain a growing global health menace that also spread to Germany and Austria.
Giving an update on the crisis that has dominated public officials' time and caused universal anxiety, President Barack Obama said, 'Every American should know that the federal government is prepared to do whatever is necessary to control this virus.
GENEVA - THE World Health Organisation called a third emergency meeting in response to a spike in swine flu cases and said the expert panel will discuss Wednesday whether to raise the worldwide flu alert level.
After the panel's first meeting on Saturday, WHO declared the outbreak an international public health emergency and on Monday it raised the pandemic alert level from phase 3 to 4 to show that the risk of a global outbreak had increased. Level 4 is two levels below the top threshold - a full pandemic outbreak
WASHINGTON - THE US economy contracted at a surprisingly sharp 6.1 per cent rate in the first quarter as exports and business inventories plummeted.
The drop in gross domestic product, reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, was much steeper than the 4.9 per cent annual rate expected by economists and followed a 6.3 per cent decline in the fourth quarter.
BANGKOK - THAI Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Wednesday said tourism income was likely to fall by more than 102 billion baht (S$4.3 billion) after deadly anti-government protests in April.
The same riots sparked losses of 220 million baht in damage to public property and loss of state income, according to the National Economic and Social Development Board (NSDB), the cabinet said in a statement.
