AFP
AFP Features

Ferrari logo. Luxury car dealer Normal Elkordi has never seen it this bad -- financial high-flyers feeling the pinch of the global economic meltdown scrambling to sell their Ferraris for a loss. "We're not talking Holdens or Fords here, we're talking Aston Martins, we're talking Ferraris," he told AFP. "I've never seen it like this before."(AFP/Getty Images/File/Paul Gilham)

The Ferrari is the first to go as high-flyers feel the crunch

20 minutes ago

SYDNEY (AFP) - Luxury car dealer Normal Elkordi has never seen it this bad -- financial high-flyers feeling the pinch of the global economic meltdown scrambling to sell their Ferraris for a loss.

  • Laborers work at a construction site in Singapore on October 10. Asia's migrant foreign workers -- among them maids, restaurant staff and construction labourers -- fear the financial crisis could leave them without a job and condemn their poor families back home to greater hardship.(AFP/File/Bob Low)
    Asia's migrant workers fear losing jobs in global crisis 29 minutes ago

    SINGAPORE (AFP) - As the global financial storm blows fear through Asia's stock markets, Filipino maid Christy Arciaga is jittery -- even though she does not own any shares.

  • Erwin Wagner, maitre at Vienna's Schwarzenberg Cafe is pictured on October 10, in Vienna. With a 300-year coffeehouse tradition, Vienna has started attracting US-style chains in the past few years and contrary to all expectations, the two would-be rivals seem to be co-existing just fine.(AFP/File/Dieter Nagl)
    Starbucks vs traditional Vienna coffeehouse: bitter rivals or unlikely allies? Sun Oct 12, 12:18 AM ET

    VIENNA (AFP) - With a 300-year coffeehouse tradition, Vienna has started attracting US-style chains in the past few years and contrary to all expectations, the two would-be rivals seem to be co-existing just fine.

  • Cypriot primary school text books lay on a desk in Phaniromeni School in the heart of the old town of Nicosia, on October 2. A decision by the Cyprus government to revise history textbooks to bolster peaceful coexistence between the island's Greek and Turkish speaking communities has enraged many clerics and politicians.(AFP/File/Daniel Sorabji)
    Cyprus history book rewrites spark outcry Sat Oct 11, 11:36 PM ET

    NICOSIA (AFP) - A decision by the Cyprus government to revise history textbooks to bolster peaceful coexistence between the island's Greek and Turkish speaking communities has enraged many clerics and politicians.

  • Taybeh Beer flags flutter in the breeze in the village of Taybeh in the West Bank. The economic recession in the West Bank, the operations of the Israeli army and the victory of the Islamist Hamas movement in the 2006 legislative elections have not prevented the Khoury brothers from clinging to their dream: of making a thriving business of their small brewery.(AFP/File/Mariana Vasconcellos)
    Conflict brewing: Palestinian beer defies Middle East strife Sat Oct 11, 11:20 PM ET

    TAYBEH, West Bank (AFP) - Some Palestinians have taken up arms and others attend peace talks in their decades-long struggle, but Nadim Khoury has found a third route to statehood -- the brewing of delicious local beer.

  • British undertakers hit by the financial crisis are refusing to carry out funerals unless they get paid in advance, The Mail on Sunday newspaper reported.(AFP/File/Paul Ellis)
    Credit crunch holding up funerals in Britain Sat Oct 11, 10:45 PM ET

    LONDON (AFP) - Undertakers hit by the financial crisis are refusing to carry out funerals unless they get paid in advance, The Mail on Sunday newspaper reported.

  • A train makes its way from Kashmir's main railway station in Budgam to Kakapora. Indian Kashmir's first train service has finally hit the tracks - the fruit of an eight-year project that had to overcome the twin challenges of tough terrain and separatist violence.(AFP/File/Rouf Bhat)
    First train service for troubled Kashmir Sat Oct 11, 9:58 AM ET

    SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - India's prime minister on Saturday launched Kashmir's first train service, the fruit of an eight-year project that overcame tough terrain and rebel strife, on a visit overshadowed by violence.

  • A man watches the stock prices in the NASDAQ Marketsite in Times Square in New York City. Gawking tourists and panicky financiers brought a bizarrely carnival-like atmosphere to Wall Street on Friday.(AFP/Getty Images/Chris Hondros)
    Tourists flock to witness fall of Wall Street Fri Oct 10, 5:38 PM ET

    NEW YORK (AFP) - Gawking tourists and panicky financiers brought a bizarrely carnival-like atmosphere to Wall Street on Friday.

  • Newly-wed young Chinese couples wave in front of the Tours city hall, in France Loire's Valley after a wedding ceremony celebrated by the city mayor Jean Germain. Forty Chinese couples paid more than 3,000 euros (4,000 dollars) for the trip to France to realize their dream.(AFP/Alain Jocard)
    It's l'amour for Chinese wedding couples Fri Oct 10, 4:09 PM ET

    TOURS, France (AFP) - The forty couples may have already tied the knot at home but, for these young Chinese, getting married in France was a dream come true.

  • Gay men exchanging rings at their wedding in Spain. Connecticut on Friday became the third US state to legalize gay marriage, following a contested ruling by the northeastern state's supreme court.(AFP/File/Philippe Desmazes)
    Third US state legalizes gay marriage Fri Oct 10, 2:29 PM ET

    NEW YORK (AFP) - Connecticut on Friday became the third US state to legalize gay marriage, following a contested ruling by the northeastern state's supreme court.

  • The Korea Exchange in Seoul. Almost 60 percent of South Koreans are changing their lifestyle -- mainly by cutting spending -- to cope with the global financial turmoil, according to a survey reported Friday(AFP/Jung Yeon-Je)
    Crisis forces Koreans to scrimp to get by Fri Oct 10, 1:54 AM ET

    SEOUL (AFP) - Almost 60 percent of South Koreans are changing their lifestyle -- mainly by cutting spending -- to cope with the global financial turmoil, according to a survey reported Friday.

  • US space tourist Richard Garriott playing billiards at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Garriott decided to fulfill a childhood dream of his own by flying into space aboard a Russian rocket.(AFP)
    US video game mogul to follow dad into space Fri Oct 10, 12:16 AM ET

    BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AFP) - After earning millions of dollars creating computer fantasy games, Richard Garriott decided to fulfill a childhood dream of his own by flying into space aboard a Russian rocket.

  • Thai participants pray as they stand in coffins next to a buddhist monk during the coffin ceremony at Wat Prommanee(AFP/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)
    In latest Thai fad, a taste of death brings hope for better life Thu Oct 9, 11:24 PM ET

    NAKHON NAYOK, Thailand (AFP) - The coffin ceremony is the latest religious trend to sweep Thailand, and the saffron-clad monks at Wat Prommanee promise to deliver money, love and a host of other .requirements

  • Gay couple at their wedding ceremony in Spain. Portugal's ruling party and the main opposition shot down Friday the latest proposals to allow same-sex marriages in the Roman Catholic country.(AFP/File/Philippe Desmazes)
    Portuguese parliament rejects gay marriage Fri Oct 10, 1:10 PM ET

    LISBON (AFP) - Portugal's ruling party and the main opposition shot down Friday the latest proposals to allow same-sex marriages in the Roman Catholic country.

  • File photo shows people smoking in a restricted area in a bar in Amsterdam. Dutch pub owners have launched a coordinated resistance against a smoking ban introduced in June, taking their ashtrays out of short-lived storage and pooling cash to pay the resultant fines.(AFP/ANP/File/Rick Nederstigt)
    Dutch pub owners rebel against smoking law Thu Oct 9, 10:21 PM ET

    THE HAGUE (AFP) - Dutch pub owners have launched a coordinated resistance against a smoking ban introduced in June, taking their ashtrays out of short-lived storage and pooling cash to pay the resultant fines.

  • Tony Viessman(L), founder of the grassroots campaign group 'Rednecks for Obama,' and friend Les Spencer demonstrate on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri on October 2, 2008.(AFP/File/Michael Mathes)
    'Rednecks for Obama' want to bridge yawning culture gap Thu Oct 9, 12:08 PM ET

    SAINT LOUIS, Missouri (AFP) - When Barack Obama's campaign bus made a swing through Missouri in July, the unlikeliest of supporters were waiting for him -- or rather two of them, holding the banner: "Rednecks for Obama."