Category: Other

NEW YORK, August 21, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices rocketed higher Thursday as traders tracked geopolitical tensions between the United States and Russia, a weak dollar and a large drop in US motor fuel reserves. New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, soared more than six dollars to 122.04 […]

NEW DELHI, August 22, 2008 (AFP) – Apple’s iconic iPhone was slated to make its debut Friday in India, home to the world’s fastest-growing mobile market, officials said. The 3G or third generation phone will sell for more than triple its US price tag in India, which has emerged as a key battleground for makers […]

SYDNEY, August 21, 2008 (AFP) – Australia’s national airline Qantas Thursday reported a 44 percent increase in annual net profit to a record 969 million dollars (842.6 million US dollars). Revenue for the year ended June 30 rose 7.5 percent to 16.19 billion dollars after Qantas carried 38.6 million passengers, up 6.0 percent, the company […]

NEW YORK, August 20, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices rose on Wednesday after a sharp spike the previous day as traders nervously mulled a larger-than-expected decline in US gasoline stocks. Prices closed higher in edgy trade, wiping out declines experienced earlier in the day, as traders assessed a weekly US inventory report for clues on […]

DHAKA, August 21, 2008 (AFP) – Bangladeshis abroad will pump close to nine billion dollars back into the nation’s economy this year, the foreign minister said Thursday, but warned migrant workers they were at risk of human trafficking.Itekhar Ahmed said that since January, migrant workers had sent 6.5 billion dollars back to Bangladesh, and the […]

SINGAPORE, August 21, 2008 (AFP) – Asia’s electronics manufacturing sector is holding up, despite a slowing global economy, because of sustained demand from Brazil, Russia, India and China, analysts said Thursday.The need for newer technology to put into cars, mobile phones and flat screen television panels should help drive demand for increasingly sophisticated electronics chips, […]

TOKYO, August 20, 2008 (AFP) – Japan’s Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Wednesday that it had developed a new way of predicting from a person’s DNA their response to medication and risk of developing disease. Matsushita, which is best known for its Panasonic brand, said it had developed a technology to electronically identify sequence variations […]

SINGAPORE, August 20, 2008 (AFP) – World oil prices rose in Asian trade Wednesday on fresh supply concerns after key producer Venezuela indicated it could ask OPEC to cut output, dealers said. In afternoon trade, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, rose 40 cents to 114.93 dollars a barrel. The contract […]

LONDON, August 19, 2008 (AFP) – The world’s biggest miner BHP Billiton announced record annual net profits of 15.39 billion US dollars (10.46 billion euros), driven by soaring commodity prices and strong Asian demand. The Anglo-Australian resources giant, which was particularly boosted by higher earnings from petroleum and iron ore, beat last year’s net profit […]