JAKARTA - A POWERFUL earthquake rattled southern Indonesia on Wednesday, killing at least 32 people crushed by falling rock or collapsed buildings and sending thousands fleeing outdoors for safety in the middle of the work day.
Hospitals quickly filled with scores of injured people after the magnitude 7.0 quake struck off the southern coast of the main island of Java, where most of Indonesia's 235 million people live. The death toll was expected to rise.
WASHINGTON - THE US private sector shed the smallest number of jobs in nearly a year, erasing 298,000 jobs in August as the country emerges from a severe recession, payrolls firm ADP said on Wednesday.
The August figure for non-farm private employment on a seasonally adjusted basis was slightly higher than the 250,000 expected by most analysts.
LONDON - MEET Oliver, the first baby in the world born using a new egg-screening technique that could double the odds of an implanted embryo taking hold in the womb, unveiled by British experts on Wednesday.
Baby Oliver was born in Britain to a 41-year-old woman after 13 failed attempts at in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
BEIJING - CHINA plans to create a 'moat' around Beijing for its National Day festivities on October 1 as part of a massive security crackdown ahead of the sensitive anniversary, state media said on Wednesday.
The report by Xinhua news agency is the latest indication of official jitters over potential unrest or political disturbances marring the carefully choreographed celebration of 60 years of Communist rule.
