ROME - BARCELONA beat Manchester United 2-0 to win the Champions League title on Wednesday with goals by Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi.
Eto'o put the Spanish champions ahead in the 10th-minute at the Stadio Olimpico and Messi's 70th-minute header - his ninth Champions League goal of the season - sealed the victory as Barcelona won Europe's most prestigious club championship for the third time.
SEOUL - NORTH Korea threatened military action on Wednesday against US and South Korean warships plying the waters near the Koreas' disputed maritime border, raising the specter of a naval clash just days after the regime's underground nuclear test.
Pyongyang, reacting angrily to Seoul's decision to join an international program to intercept ships suspected of aiding nuclear proliferation, called the move tantamount to a declaration of war.
NEW YORK - MOODY'S Investors Service affirmed its top credit rating for the United States on Wednesday, amid concerns in financial markets that a rising debt burden could threaten the creditworthiness of the world's largest economy.
But the rating agency warned if the US failed to reduce current debt levels once economic growth returns, the AAA credit grade could eventually come under pressure.
WASHINGTON - AMERICA'S banks turned a profit in the first quarter, but the number of troubled banks jumped to more than 300, the government said on Wednesday.
The Federal Deposit Insurance said higher trading revenues at big banks helped the industry earn a US$7.6 billion (S$11 billion) profit in the January-March period, compared with a record loss of US$36.9 billion in the fourth quarter.
