Hedge fund regulation gets guarded support
WASHINGTON: Billionaires testifying before Congress yesterday gave guarded support for proposals that would bring greater regulation of hedge funds, the investment funds for the ultra-wealthy being blamed in part for the current global financial turmoil. Five powerful figures in investments told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that hedge funds should be subject to greater oversight. But they stopped short of supporting public reporting of hedge fund data. Lawmakers from both parties agree that greater financial regulation is needed amid the steep slump in global financial markets. But there has not been consensus on what kind of regulation. "Good regulation is good for every market participant," said Kenneth Griffin, chief executive of the Citadel Investment Group, a Chicago-based financial firm whose varied businesses include a top hedge fund.
Gaza City is dark after fuel, food are cut off
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip: Gaza City was dark last night. Officials shut down its only power plant as Israel cut off fuel and food shipments to the Palestinian territory because of renewed rocket attacks. Israel canceled plans to ship in diesel fuel for the plant as well as 30 trucks full of humanitarian supplies after Gaza militants fired at least eight rockets and some mortar shells at Israel yesterday, the military said. Renewed tensions in Gaza have raised the grim prospect of an end to a truce that has stopped most Israeli-Palestinian violence in and around the impoverished seaside territory for five months. The truce began eroding last week when Israeli forces entered Gaza to try destroy what they said was a militants' tunnel. Eleven militants have been killed since, and more than 130 rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza at Israel. Israel has clamped a tight blockade on Gaza, which is ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas.
First photos are taken of other stars' planets
LOS ANGELES: In the search for Earth-like planets elsewhere in the universe, two teams of astronomers have taken the first pictures of planets orbiting stars other than our sun. The first team, led by University of California, Berkeley researchers, used the Hubble Space Telescope to take a picture of a giant planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut, 25 light-years from Earth. Paul Kalas, the lead astronomer for the team, said he "nearly had a heart attack" when he found the new planet, which he calls Fomalhaut b. The other effort relied on the giant Keck and Gemini telescopes in Hawaii to image three planets surrounding the young star HR8799, 130 light-years - 700 trillion miles - away. Both discoveries were reported yesterday in the journal Science.
