Category: Other
Oil bubble weakens as Fed signal pause in money printing
LONDON, June 4, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices fell on Wednesday, extending recent heavy losses made on the back of the stronger dollar, as investors awaited the latest weekly report on energy inventories in the United States.New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, shed 59 cents to 123.72 dollars a […]
‘s airlines face huge losses due to fuel prices: govt
NEW DELHI, June 4, 2008 (AFP) – India’s airlines suffered a combined loss of nearly a billion dollars in the past financial year and the figure could double this year if fuel prices keep rising, a government official said on Wednesday.The firms suffered a total loss of around 40 billion rupees (937.6 billion dollars) in […]
WTO says no point in further talks on industrial products access
GENEVA, June 2, 2008 (AFP) – The WTO’s chief negotiator on freeing up access for industrial products said Monday he sees no point in further talks until member states are ready to compromise over tariffs and other key sticking points. The 152 members of the WTO need to “work among themselves to bridge their positions […]
Iceland and Norway resume whale meat exports to Japan
REYKJAVIK, June 2, 2008 (AFP) – Iceland and Norway resumed whale meat exports to Japan this year after an 18-year interruption, industry representatives from both Scandinavian countries said.“Iceland and Norway resumed exporting whale meat to Japan,” Gunnar Bergmann Jonsson, president of the Icelandic association representing Minke whale hunters, told AFP. “We (Iceland) have exported to […]
Sri Lanka rains, floods affect low country tea crop
June 03, 2008 (LBO) – Floods caused by heavy rains in southern Sri Lanka have disrupted cropping on tea plots but no serious shortfall is anticipated unless the rains continue, trade officials said. “Lasting damage is not anticipated unless earthslips cover tea bushes.” He said he expects floods to subside in 2-3 days unless the […]
As prices rise, Americans turn to coupons, home-grown veg
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2008 (AFP) – Amid skyrocketing fuel and food prices, consumers in the United States are hitting the breaks on spending and even discovering the merits of home-grown food. With petrol prices inching toward four dollars a gallon — up 25 percent in just five months — and domestic food inflation up 6.3 […]
” noises
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2008 (AFP) – Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday the central bank is “attentive” to the sagging dollar and would look at steps “to guard against risks” to inflation from a weak currency. Bernanke, speaking via satellite to a monetary conference in Barcelona, Spain, offered a mixed assessment of US economic […]
Rating Code
June 02, 2008 (LBO) – A new code of conduct for rating agencies has been published by a grouping of securities regulators after the sub-prime credit collapse, which is also applicable in Sri Lanka, an official said. The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) of which the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) […]
Brazil says biofuel production not to blame for food prices
SAO PAULO, June 2, 2008 (AFP) – With its prodigious farm exports and its major industry making ethanol from sugarcane, Brazil is seeking to show that in the food versus biofuel debate at least in its case the two can co-exist. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has challenged critics who claim biofuel production is […]
‘s forex reserves hit 1.76 trillion dollars: report
SHANGHAI, June 2, 2008 (AFP) – China’s foreign exchange reserves rose to 1.76 trillion dollars at the end of April, state media reported Monday, reaching a level higher than the rest of Northeast Asia’s combined.“This (figure) seems to suggest the inflow of hot money is speeding up,” the newspaper quoted Logan Wright, an analyst with […]
Airlines to lose $2.3bn this year, says industry body
ISTANBUL, June 2, 2008 (AFP) – Air travel industry body IATA predicted Monday that airlines would lose 2.3 billion dollars this year dramatically reversing an earlier prediction of profits nearly twice this figure. “Oil skyrocketing above US 130 per barrel has brought us into uncharted territory.Add in the weakening global economy and this is yet […]
Florida, Michigan restored in blow to Clinton
WASHINGTON, June 1, 2008 (AFP) – The Democratic Party dealt a severe blow to Hillary Clinton’s fading White House hopes, restoring renegade states Michigan and Florida to its presidential convention, but with halved voting power.Barack Obama, 46 was left two giant strides closer to making history as the first black presidential nominee, with only three […]