Friday, November 23, 2012

The World's Most Expensive Place to Buy a House


The priciest place in the world to buy property is the French Riviera. Bloomberg's Olivia Sterns has been discovering what you can get for your money.

Black Friday: The Super Bowl for Retailers


Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Sheila Dharmarajan reports on Black Friday retail sales. She speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Lunch Money." (Source: Bloomberg)

Scientists fail to find fantasy island



Published on Nov 23, 2012 by
http://www.euronews.com/ For the last 10 years Sandy Island in the Pacific has featured on maps and satellite images, but as it lay in a little-explored region of the ocean off the sea lanes, it had few visitors.

Imagine scientists' surprise when, on being despatched there on a survey mission, they found nothing at all, not a squeak of dry land, and over 1000 metres of water beneath them as they sailed over the island's map co-ordinates.

So where has it gone? Was it ever there? Was it an anti-theft device used by Google Earth to catch pirates?

"It's completely possible that it was a human error in digitising these maps at some stage and it's just entered the databases once, and it's stuck around inside the databases because no scientific vessels have actually been in that region for a very, very long time. It's a very poorly explored part of the world, like much of our oceans unfortunately," says scientist Sabin Zahirovic.

Another theory is that the island was ocean debris that had managed to collect in a mass before breaking up. The French may be upset, as it was in their waters and would have been theirs, had it existed.

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Eat, shop, give thanks in US



Published on Nov 22, 2012 by
http://www.euronews.com/ In an annual custom, the American president pardons the traditional centre-piece of the Thanksgiving holiday, a turkey. Two this year, named Cobbler and Gobbler, are being allowed to live instead of ending up on a plate. They'll retire to a nice farm in Virginia.

These may be lean times for many American families but they don't want to miss the traditional dinner. Nearly 45 million turkeys are eaten at Thanksgiving in the US, the vast majority raised on industrial farms and sold for the equivalent of about two euros forty (€2.40) per kilo.

Thanksgiving kicks off the Christmas shopping season, and retailers are wondering what this one will be like.

Analysts expect holiday shopping sales to grow 3.5 percent this year (down from 3.7% last year and 3.8% in 2010). This third quarter saw sales slow down, so there are retailers that have adjusted the start time of the traditional Black Friday sales event earlier: to this Thursday evening.

A recent survey said 23 percent of consumers plan to go shopping on Thanksgiving Day - up from 17 percent last year. Black Friday is said to have got its name because of the crush of the crowds, or because retailers do well (black ink meaning profit for them).

The "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Pilgrims - the early settlers - after their first harvest in the New World in 1621. Their feast lasted for three days.

Our correspondent Stefan Grobe, in Washington DC, said: "Consumer confidence rose to a five-year high in November, as the job market is slowly improving and home prices are up. But as Americans approach the holiday-shopping season they are worried that they will soon have less money in their pockets, if no deal is reached over the fiscal cliff by the end of the year."

Asia Week Ahead: BOJ policy minutes, India GDP in focus. (2:29)



Nov. 23 - Minutes from a recent policy meeting of Japan's central bank and India growth data are among the events that will be watched by investors in Asia next week

What Does the Future Hold for Hong Kong?


On the second episode of Voyager Rishaad Salamat explores the culture and people of Hong Kong. He is joined by Fashion Designer Barney Cheng, Actress Josie Ho and Douglas Young, founder of Goods of Desire. Here the guests discuss the future of the city.

No Deal on Europe in The Four-Shirt Summit


Divisions between rich and poor countries flared over the European Union’s next seven-year budget, leading German Chancellor Angela Merkel to rule out an accord until the new year.

German Third-Quarter GDP Growth Driven by Consumers


Germany’s economic expansion in the third quarter was primarily driven by exports and household spending, a breakdown of the data shows.

British Cuisine Takes on the French in Paris


A number of restaurants have opened in Paris selling high-end British cuisine to diners. Bloomberg Television's Tim Chilcott reports with Chief Food Critic Richard Vines.