Around the World for 04/02/08

Gasoline, oil futures jump on tight supply report - Gasoline and oil futures rose sharply today after the Energy Department reported an unexpected jump in gasoline demand and a big drop in supplies. Prices at the pump returned to record levels, and appeared poised to extend their march higher.

Bernanke Nods at Possibility of a Recession - In his bleakest economic assessment to date, the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, said Wednesday that the American economy could contract in the first half of 2008, meeting the technical definition of a recession, and he encouraged Congress to help homeowners caught up in the mortgage crisis.

U.S. and Britain at Odds Over Guantánamo Inmate - The Bush administration and the British government are at odds over how to treat one of the last two British residents held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, officials from the countries involved in the case and his lawyer say.

Mugabe's Zanu-PF loses majority - Robert Mugabe's party has lost its majority in parliament for the first time since Zimbabwean independence in 1980, official results show. President Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has taken 97 of the 210 seats, while opposition parties have won 109, the Zimbabwe Election Commission says.

Cubans on new freedoms: 'We'll see how far we go - In the past week, President Raúl Castro has legalized cell phone use for ordinary Cubans; granted Cubans access to previously off-limits tourist hotels; and legalized the sale within Cuba of microwaves, DVD players and personal computers. Cubans are welcoming the change, even if the costs are out of their reach.