AP - The day the trial opened, the woman who accuses a former South African deputy president of rape was hustled in under heavy guard, her face hidden under a cloth. The politician's supporters have burned photographs of her outside the courtroom — even though her identity was meant to be a secret — and depicted her as a traitor and a tramp.

AP - Stocks rose Wednesday on upbeat news from big companies: a patent settlement by Bristol-Myers Squibb, strong earnings from Morgan Stanley and a cost-cutting deal between General Motors Corp., Delphi Corp. and the United Auto Workers. The gains were enough to push the Dow Jones industrial average to a new five-year high.

AFP - Royal Dutch Shell said that it has decided against selling its global Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) marketing and distribution business.

AP - Confidential letters will show that four former managers of Royal Ahold NV, including the global food retailer's former chief executive officer, committed perjury, a prosecutor said on Monday at the start of their trial in one of Europe's largest financial scandals.

Chairman of the European Influenza Surveillance Scheme, Koos van der Velden, and Senior UN System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, Dr. David Nabarro, will be the opening speakers at the Bird Flu Summit starting Monday in Washington, DC. [PRWEB Feb 22, 2006]