Category: Other
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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, […]
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 […]
Fed may cut rates again after meeting: analysts
WASHINGTON, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – The Federal Reserve opens a two-day meeting Tuesday widely expected to cut key interest rates further as part of an unrelenting effort by the central bank to restore confidence to battered markets. The US central bank, which led a coordinated global rate cut earlier this month that pushed its […]
Euro US dollar parity to 1.2328 dollars, lowest since April 2006
TOKYO, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – The euro dropped to 1.2328 dollars in Asian trade on Tuesday, the lowest level since April 2006, pressured by growing fears of recession in Europe. The euro later recovered slightly to 1.2357 dollars, still sharply lower compared with its level of 1.2520 dollars in New York overnight.Worries about the […]
Sri Lanka rubber producers urged to cut supply to prop up prices
Oct 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan authorities are advising rubber cultivators to reduce supply in an effort to prevent prices which have fallen off record highs, from slumping further. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Rubber Research Institute director Asoka Nugawala said a short-term […]
Staff at top Asian brokerage asked to cut pay to avoid job losses
HONG KONG, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – Hundreds of senior staff at one of Asia’s top brokerages, CLSA, have been asked to take a pay cut of up to 25 percent in a bid to avoid redundancies, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.A total of 500 senior brokers, analysts and managers at the Asian brokerage unit of […]
Sri Lanka tea prices hold after government purchases
Oct 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices stabilized and more lots were sold at Tuesday’s Colombo auctions after the state-run Tea Board began buying in a market in a rare intervention, officials and brokers said.To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Tea Board chairman […]
Maldives votes in presidential run-off
MALE, October 28, 2008 (AFP) – Voting got under way in the Maldives on Tuesday to choose the country’s first-ever democratically elected president in a run-off between Asia’s longest serving leader and a former political prisoner. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the 71-year-old incumbent, faces his toughest critic Mohamed “Anni” Nasheed, 41, after failing to win an […]