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Santos Ltd, the oil and gas producing company, has lowered its 2010 guidance after reporting a decrease of 74% in its annual net profit in FY 2009. Santos posted a net profit of A$434 million in FY 2009 while in the previous fiscal of 2008 the company posted net profit of A$1.7 billion.

The Adelaide based company also said that the net profit in FY 2008 was hugely attributable to the sale of 40% stake in Santos's Queensland liquefied natural gas venture.

The shuttle 'Endeavour' has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) and heading home after efficiently installing the Tranquility Node at the research centre.

The shuttle and its six-member team will land in Florida at 0316 on Monday.

As the vehicle parted with the ISS at 7.54 p. m. EST, pilot Terry Virts flew the shuttle to 450 feet in front of the station and then in a circle around the station before starting the drive to the earth.

The space operation was set up by the NASA Feb 8.

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd released its first half results today. The company faced a heavy decline of 94% in its first half net profit mainly due to a loan revaluation, foreign exchange losses and lower prices of ore.

The Perth based mining company posted a first half net profit of $43 million, decreasing by 94% while in the first half of the previous year the company posted net profit of $760 million.

Rashad Hussain, US President Barack Obama''s new envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to aid a terror suspect Sami al-Arian in 2006.

An admission that contradicts earlier claims from the White House that the quotes had been mistakenly attributed to Hussain, he admitted on Friday that he once defended a man who later pleaded guilty to conspiring to aid a terrorist group.

This week's raids on current Chief Minister Shibu Soren's aide M. L. Pal, which reportedly unearthed undisclosed assets worth Rs. 65 crore has further cemented the belief that becoming a private secretary to a chief minister is an easy route to riches in Jharkhand.

Vivek, another ex-personal secretary of Soren, still moves around with the chief minister carrying files, though he does not have any official post as Pal continues in his post as the chief minister's personal secretary.

Indian aggressive opener Virender Sehwag has jumped to top spot in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings for batsmen in the test matches released on Saturday.

Sehwag is leading the ranking table with 863 points followed by South African batsman Hasim Amla with 842 points. Sehwag had scored two hundreds in the recently concluded two test matches series against South Africa.

Sehwag had scored 109 runs in the first test match at Nagpur while in the second test match against South Africa, Sehwag had smashed 165 runs to lead India to a famous win and retain the no. 1 spot in the ICC test rankings.