Category: Other

HARARE, June 27, 2008 (AFP) – The prices at Dzidzai Guti’s makeshift stall can seem eye-popping, with rotting oranges, a pack of cigarettes and bananas fetching as much as 250 million Zimbabwean dollars.But the 27-year-old gardener struggles.He and his wife, who works as a maid, live in a room in the back of his boss’s […]

SINGAPORE, June 27, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices eased in Asia on Friday after reaching 140 dollars for the first time following the OPEC president’s forecast that prices could soon surge as high as 170 dollars a barrel. New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, dropped 18 cents to 139.46 […]

LONDON, June 27, 2008 (AFP) – European stocks mostly fell on Friday as oil prices shot to record levels, but losses were less than falls on other global markets hit by soaring crude costs and a weak US economy. Concerns are growing among investors that rising energy costs will fuel inflation and lead to higher […]

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2008 (AFP) – US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was scheduled to meet Wednesday with officials in charge of Pentagon and Air Force purchases to discuss the controversial 35-billion-dollar refueling tanker deal. On June 18 the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, backed a protest by aerospace giant […]

SAN FRANCISCO, June 25, 2008 (AFP) – Google has introduced a tool that lets advertisers figure out which websites their ideal customers are inclined to visit.“Google Ad Planner” lets advertisers enter demographics they wish to target and then returns a list of websites likely to appeal to people with those characteristics. “We hope you’ll find […]

MUMBAI, June 24, 2008 (AFP) – India’s central bank unleashed a fresh round of monetary tightening Tuesday, raising its key short-term lending rate by half-a-percentage point after inflation hit a 13-year high of over 11 percent. The Reserve Bank of India raised its repo rate at which commercial banks borrow funds from the central bank […]

PARIS, June 24, 2008 (AFP) – The number of millionaires worldwide rose 6.0 percent last year to 10.1 million, with the sharpest gains recorded in emerging market powerhouses India, China and Brazil, a study revealed Tuesday.The 12th annual World Wealth Report, prepared by US investment bank Merrill Lynch and information technology group Capgemini, highlighted the […]

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2008 (AFP) – US school children will face longer walks to the bus stop, longer days and shorter weeks at school, while university students are pushed to take online courses, all thanks to relentless spiraling fuel prices. Several counties in the central-eastern state of Maryland are considering giving their yellow school buses […]

YOKOHAMA, June 25, 2008 (AFP) – Soaring raw material costs pose a major challenge to automakers, which have no choice but to raise vehicle prices, Nissan Motor Co.chief executive Carlos Ghosn said Wednesday. The surging prices of steel and other materials are the “single most important challenge facing the industry and facing Nissan,” Ghosn said […]

PARIS, June 25, 2008 (AFP) – The world economy is likely to grow by about 4.0 percent this year and the United States should avoid a recession, the governor of the Bank of France Christian Noyer said on Wednesday. Noyer, who is also a member of the monetary policy council of the European Central Bank, […]

BRUSSELS, June 25, 2008 (AFP) – A panel of EU lawmakers approved European plans requiring that air fares clearly include all extra charges so passengers know exactly what they are paying.In the crackdown on hidden expenses, all air fares would have to include all taxes, fees and charges on top of the basic ticket price […]