Washington - Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende will not attend a meeting of the leaders of the world's top economic powers after learning that his father had died, US President George W Bush said late Friday.
Balkenende learned of his father's death while he was travelling to Washington for the G20 summit and immediately returned to the Netherlands to be with his family.
The country will instead be represented by Finance Minister Jan Cornelis de Jager.
Washington - The leaders of the world's top economic powers are expected to agree Saturday to close off all gaps in the regulation of world finance markets following a financial crisis threatening to plunge the global economy into recession.
The government heads of the Group of 20 nations gathered Friday night in the White House for a dinner hosted by US President George W Bush and are expected to sign off on the agreement at an historic summit Saturday.
Washington - Space shuttle Endeavour lifted off late Friday from Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida for a construction mission to the International Space Station.
The shuttle and its seven-member crew blasted off at 7:55 pm (0055 GMT Saturday) for a 15-day flight that is to include four spacewalks to service joints on the station's solar panels and to prepare the ISS for expansion.
San Francisco - The volume of spam messages on the internet plunged by about two thirds this week after the connection was cut on a company that was allegedly using its servers to disseminate billions of the unwanted email messages, internet security firms said Friday.
Symantec said the number of spam messages had fallen by some 120 billion per day, to around 60 billion. However it warned that many of the spam spewers would probably find new routes to distribute their messages and that the respite was likely only temporary.
Washington - Leaders from the Group of 20 nations gathered Friday for an historic summit to address a financial crisis that has sent global stock markets plummeting and threatened to plunge the global economy into recession.
US President George W Bush will welcome the leaders of 20 countries to the White House for a working dinner Friday evening and the group will hold an intensive day of talks Saturday aimed at overhauling the world's financial system and spurring global growth.
Washington - Former presidential candidate and New York Senator Hillary Clinton has refused to address speculation that president-elect Barack Obama will tap her to become his top diplomat.
"I'm not going to speculate about the president-elect's incoming administration," Clinton told a gathering in New York, adding that any questions should be directed to Obama's transition team.
Washington - Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende will not attend a meeting of the leaders of the world's top economic powers after learning that his father had died, US President George W Bush said late Friday.
Washington - The leaders of the world's top economic powers are expected to agree Saturday to close off all gaps in the regulation of world finance markets following a financial crisis threatening to plunge the global economy into recession.
Washington - Space shuttle Endeavour lifted off late Friday from Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida for a construction mission to the International Space Station.
San Francisco - The volume of spam messages on the internet plunged by about two thirds this week after the connection was cut on a company that was allegedly using its servers to disseminate billions of the unwanted email messages, internet security firms said Friday.
Washington - Leaders from the Group of 20 nations gathered Friday for an historic summit to address a financial crisis that has sent global stock markets plummeting and threatened to plunge the global economy into recession.
Washington - Former presidential candidate and New York Senator Hillary Clinton has refused to address speculation that president-elect Barack Obama will tap her to become his top diplomat.
