World briefs

French police detain Strauss-Kahn
French police detained former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn for questioning over allegations he took part in orgies in Paris and Washington with prostitutes paid for by businessmen. The 62-year-old former Socialist minister, who until last year was the frontrunner to replace Nicolas Sarkozy as president of France, had been summoned as a witness but prosecutors said he was now a suspect. Strauss-Kahn turned up voluntarily at a police station in the northern city of Lille and prosecutors said he would be detained on suspicion of “abetting aggravated pimping by an organised gang” and “misuse of company funds”.

Oil Rises to Nine-Month High
Oil rose to the highest level in more than nine months after euro-area finance ministers agreed on a second bailout for Greece, reducing concern that the debt crisis may slow the economy and oil consumption. Prices gained as much as 2.1 percent after the ministers awarded 130 billion euros ($173 billion) in aid, wrung concessions from Greece’s private investors and engineered a European Central Bank profits transfer. More on page 17

Wal-Mart profit falls
amid US price wars
Wal-Mart, the world’s top retailer, said yesterday its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings fell 15 percent as it cut prices in the United States amid fierce competition for consumer dollars. Wal-Mart posted $5.1 billion in net income for the three months ending January 31, compared with $6.1 billion in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 5.9 percent in the quarter to $123.2 billion, boosted in part by $2.4 billion from newly-acquired Netto stores in Britain and Massmart in South Africa.

More than 100 ‘killed’ in south Libyatribal clashes
Fierce clashes between two tribes in Libya’s remote southeastern desert have killed more than 100 people over the past 10 days, tribal sources said yesterday. At least 113 people from the Toubu tribe and another 20 from the Zwai tribe have been killed in the desert town of Kufra since the fighting erupted there between the two tribes on February 12.

East Timor President at UN Security Council
President José Ramos-Horta has said he will deliver a message of “optimism” on East Timor when he addresses the UN Security Council today. The council is scheduled to discuss the peacekeeping Timorese UNMIT mission, which is to conclude at the end of this year, on Wednesday and Thursday. “My speech (on Wednesday) will be one of optimism”, Ramos-Horta told Lusa Sunday before departing Dili for New York.

Yahoo! seeks to avoid Indian lawsuit
Internet giant Yahoo! on Tuesday applied to be removed from a lawsuit lodged in an Indian court against social networking sites hosting allegedly offensive content. More than 20 Internet firms, including Google and Facebook, have been named in the case, which follows meetings between government ministers and the companies over material seen as offending Muslims or defaming politicians. Yahoo! was made part of the lawsuit “on the patently mistaken assumption that it is a social networking website”

EDP welcomes Chinese aboard
The General Meeting of Portuguese power utility EDP to appoint board members and change the company’s articles with the entry of a new shareholder, China Three Gorges, began Monday with over 70% of the capital represented. The shareholders are  expected to reappoint António Mexia as chairman. The proposal to alter the articles was related with a potential competitor being able to sit on the EDP supervision board, but it passed safely with almost 90% of the votes. Another proposal to raise the voting right ceiling from 20% to 25% also passed meaning Three Gorges can now use all its 21.35% of the capital.

Frankfurt strike:
More flights grounded
Nearly 200 flights were cancelled at Frankfurt airport, Europe’s third busiest, yesterday as tarmac workers downed tools for the fourth day and said the strike would be extended until Friday. Fraport, the company which owns and operates Germany’s biggest airport, said that 187 flights out of a total 1,200 would be cancelled, fewer than the 240 on Monday. The aim, as on previous strike days, was to ensure that all intercontinental take-offs and landings went ahead, Fraport said.

Paramount Sues Over ‘Godfather’ Sequels
Paramount Pictures Corp. sued Anthony Puzo, the executor of the estate of author Mario Puzo, to prevent the publication of new sequel novels to “The Godfather.” Paramount, which says it bought the copyright to Puzo’s novel in 1969, is trying “protect the integrity and reputation of The Godfather trilogy,” according to a complaint filed Feb. 17 in federal court in Manhattan.