Paris - Stung by the impact of the global financial crisis, French bank BNP Paribas said its profits for the third quarter of 2008 had fallen significantly compared to the same period last year.

Third-quarter profits stood at 901 million euros (1.16 billion dollars), down 55.6 per cent from 2007, BNP Paribas said in a statement.

The loss was attributed to "a direct impact of the financial crisis," which the bank estimated at 1.1 billion euros.

Turnover fell by a more modest 1 per cent, to 7.614 billion euros, compared to the third quarter of 2007.

"The direct impact of the financial crisis was significantly greater than in previous quarters," the bank said.

London, November 5: Prince William and girlfriend Kate Middleton have dispelled reports suggesting that their relationship might be strained – by sharing a weekend together at Birkhall.

The royal couple were seen spending quality time with each other while looking after guests at Prince Charles’s Highland retreat, a 14-bedroom Jacobean hunting lodge on the Balmoral estate.

The duo was spotted together for the first time in eight weeks, reports the Daily Express.

While the 26-year-old prince went out with his pals to stalk deers, his girlfriend apparently decided to lay low.

The benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty slipped deeper into the negative in late afternoon trade today, on account of aggressive selling at several blue chip counters.

Oil & gas, metal and realty stocks were hammered badly.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index lost more than 1% each.

The 30-share index BSE Sensex, today, opened with a gain of 300.05 points at 10,931.17.

At 3:03 a.m., Sensex lost 409.87 points, or 3.86%, at 10,221.25 after touching a high of 10,945.41 and a low of 10,218.92.

Washington, Nov 5: A new genetic research has suggested that the extinction of the native rat species of Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean in 1908, was caused by a pathogen carried by Eurasian black rats.

The pathogen was unleashed when Eurasian black rats jumped ship onto the island at the turn of the 20th century, causing extermination of two endemic species, namely Rattus macleari and R. nativitatis.

This study is the first to demonstrate extinction in a mammal because of disease, supporting the hypothesis proposed a decade ago that “hyperdisease conditions”—unusually rapid mortality from which a species never recovers—can lead to extinction.

Copenhagen - Danish brewer Carlsberg's third-quarter operating profit increased, the group said Wednesday but noted that beer sales in expanding markets in Russia and Eastern Europe were impacted by bad weather in the quarter.

The quarter's operating profit before special items was 3.05 billion kroner (525 million dollars), compared to 2.07 billion kroner for the corresponding business period in
2007.

Turnover in the quarter surged from 12.4 billion to 18.44 billion kroner year-on-year, while net profit was up from 1.3 billion to 1.4 billion kroner.

Bangkok  - The secretary-general of Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Wednesday welcomed the election of Barack Obama as a leader more inclined to work with the world.

"I congratulate the people of the US for electing a president who is ready to work with the world," said ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan. "ASEAN is ready to cooperate with the new administration."