Bangkok Post

It is "saddening" for a rumour to have been spread with intent to damage public confidence in the judicial system ahead of the Surpreme Court's verdict on the 76-billion-baht assets seizure case against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said on Monday.

The Department of Special Investigation has set up a team to investigate a rumour that five of the nine Supreme Court judges in the Thaksin assets seizure case have been offered bribes of one billion baht each, department director-general Tharit Pengdit said on Monday.

Lufthansa pilots began a four-day strike on Monday in a bitter dispute over job guarantees, grounding a predicted two-thirds of its 800 daily flights and causing chaos at German airports.

More than 1,500 people took to the streets Sunday in Russia's north to protest living costs _ the first of a new series of challenges to the Kremlin in coming weeks, organizers said.

French drivers rushed to fill their tanks Sunday after striking workers at oil giant Total raised the threat of petrol shortages as families hit the road for the mid-term school holidays.

Energy-poor Jordan on Sunday signed an agreement with France's nuclear giant Areva giving it exclusive uranium mining rights, during a visit by French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.

New Politics Party spokesman Samran Rodpetch called on the government to look into the rumours of bribery concerning the Thaksin assets seizure case.

Ailing top-seed Roger Federer has pulled out of the two-million-dollar ATP Dubai Open due to a lung infection, officials said here Sunday.

The Thai stock market is expected to move downward next week (Feb 22 - Feb 26) because of the country's political uncertainty and the US Federal Reserve's decision to raise the interest rate, the Kasikorn Research Centre (KRC) reported on Sunday.

Maria Sharapova put her disappointing Australian Open performance behind her Saturday, as she beat Sofia Arvidsson 6-2, 6-1 to win the WTA Tour's Memphis title.