Category: Other
US Treasury releases 125 billion dollars to nine banks
WASHINGTON, October 29, 2008 (AFP) – The US Treasury said Wednesday it had finalized the infusion of 125 billion dollars into nine major commercial banks as part of a financial system rescue plan. Officials said Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo each received 25 billion dollars in capital. Bank of America got 15 billion […]
US economy shrinks in quarter, worst may be yet to come
WASHINGTON, October 30, 2008 (AFP) – The US economy contracted at a 0.3 percent pace in the third quarter as a global credit crunch prompted consumers and businesses to retrench, government data showed Thursday.The drop in gross domestic product (GDP) was the first negative figure since the fourth quarter of 2007, the Commerce Department reported […]
World oil prices tumble on US economic gloom
LONDON, October 30, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices slipped back on Thursday in volatile trade, reversing early gains as the market reacted to news of shrinking economic growth in the United States, the world’s top energy consumer. An overnight cut in US interest rates, along with a similar move in China, had earlier bolstered prices […]
US cuts rates; US, IMF open new liquidity windows
WASHINGTON, October 30, 2008 (AFP) – The US Federal Reserve sliced its key interest rate another 0.5 percentage points to 1.0 percent Wednesday as signs emerged of thawing credit markets around the world. The Fed’s expected action came after China also chopped its benchmark one-year deposit rate by 27 basis points to 3.60 in a […]
Chinese authorities tried to cover up Melamine eggs: state media
BEIJING, October 30, 2008 (AFP) – A government in northeast China kept quiet the discovery of melamine-tainted eggs for weeks and ordered a media ban before Hong Kong authorities finally revealed the problem, state press said Thursday. The animal sanitation inspection department of Liaoning province suspected the tainted eggs came from chicken feed and ordered […]
Indonesian ex-central bank governor gets five years for graft
JAKARTA, October 29, 2008 (AFP) – A former governor of Indonesia’s central bank was sentenced to five years in jail and a relative of President Susilo Bambang was named a suspect Wednesday in a snowballing corruption scandal. Burhanuddin Abdullah was convicted in the anti-corruption court of embezzling 10.3 million dollars in bank funds to bribe […]
Powerful rally lifts Dow 10-pct
NEW YORK, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – A frenzied buying spree sent US shares soaring Tuesday with the second-largest point gain in history for blue chips amid hopes for a rate cut and easing of a global credit crunch. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rocketed 889.35 points (10.88 percent) to finish at 9,065.12. The gain […]
Cheap crude may hit non-oil Arab states as inflows fall
DUBAI, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – Cheaper oil prices may damage the economies of non-oil producing Arab countries because of a fall in remittances and other cash inflows from the Gulf states, analysts said. Remittances sent home by migrant workers contributed three billion dollars or 20 percent of gross domestic product in Jordan last year, […]
Ex-political prisoner beats veteran Maldives leader: official
MALE, October 29, 2008 (AFP) – Ex-political prisoner Mohamed “Anni” Nasheed beat Asia’s longest serving leader, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, in the Maldives’ first democratic presidential election, official results showed Wednesday. The elections are the climax of an effort to bring political freedoms to the Indian Ocean archipelago in the wake of pro-democracy protests and international […]
Melamine tainted egg scare spreads to Beijing
BEIJING, October 29, 2008 (AFP) – Supermarkets in Beijing stopped selling eggs from one of China’s major producers on Wednesday as fears about the toxic chemical melamine spread to the Chinese capital. The retailers acted after Hong Kong health authorities said they had detected melamine, which has killed four babies and sickened 53,000 in China, […]
Thai crocs feel bite as financial woes dull taste for luxury goods
SAMUT PRAKAN, October 29, 2008 (AFP) – At the Elite Thai Leather factory in Bangkok, craftsman contort tough Thai crocodile hides into any style of luxury handbag a fashion designer wants. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Bright blue handbags made from the dyed rough […]
British central bank urges reform
LONDON, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – Britain’s central bank urged new constraints on banks Tuesday to avoid a repeat of the financial crisis, saying there needed to be a “fundamental rethink” of how the institutions manage risk. The Bank of England warned banks had overextended themselves during the economic boom years, lending out more than […]