Category: Other
African leaders criticise donor nations on trade
May 28, 2008 (AFP) – African leaders on Wednesday lashed out at rich nations for failing to tackle trade inequalities even as they make lofty pledges to boost aid.The leaders, in Japan for a major development conference, urged industrialised nations to make it easier for them to export food, coffee and other products at fair […]
Sri Lanka treasury bills rejected
May 28, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government debt office rejected bids to buy 8.5 billion rupees of treasury bills Wednesday, selling 3.2 billion rupees through the auction. The government sold 2.0 billion rupees of 6-months bills at 18.14 percent, down 16 basis points from last week. The yield on 12-month bills also fell 10 […]
China plans three telecom giants
BEIJING, May 27, 2008 (AFP) – China plans to create three telecom giants as it seeks to bring balance back to an industry where mobile operators have seen the fastest growth by far, the government and state press said Tuesday.Under the plan, the world’s biggest mobile operator China Mobile will acquire fixed-line operator China Tietong […]
US recession still probable: Greenspan
LONDON, May 27, 2008 (AFP) – A recession in the United States remains a probability, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said in an interview published Tuesday. Speaking to the Financial Times from Washington, Greenspan said he believed “there is a greater than 50 percent probability of recession.” He noted, however, that “that probability has […]
Vietnam inflation hits 25 percent in May
HANOI, May 27, 2008 (AFP) – Vietnamese consumer prices surged by over 25 percent in May compared to the same month last year, a trend driven mainly by sharply higher food prices, the communist government said Tuesday. Prices shot up an estimated 3.91 percent between April and May alone, a period that saw some panic-buying […]
Sri Lanka tea price fall squeezes producer margins
May 27, 2008 (LBO) – The fall in tea prices in recent weeks owing to the seasonal increase in supply and lower quality has put producers’ margins under pressure, brokers said. It came during the island’s Western quality season when teas from the western slopes of the central hills are at their best quality and […]
Kenya hit by nationwide power outage, sparking panic
NAIROBI, May 25, 2008 (AFP) – A nationwide power outage hit Kenya on Sunday as a result of a transmission fault from its hydro-electric plants, officials said, sparking panic in the east African nation. The hydro-electric plants’ owners, official power generator KenGen, produces about 80 percent of electricity consumed in the country, using hydro, geothermal, […]
Toyota, Hino to help develop road-rail vehicle: spokesman
TOKYO, May 26, 2008 (AFP) – Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp.and its truck-making affiliate have joined a project to develop an environmentally friendly vehicle capable of moving both on roads and railways, an official said Monday. Toyota and affiliate Hino Motors Ltd.will take part in the development of a new model of a road-rail vehicle originally […]
Sri Lanka Carsons readies for palm oil price correction
May 26, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Carson Cumberbatch group said efficiency improvements and expanded cultivation in its oil palm estates in south-east Asia should help it remain competitive when prices fall off current record highs. The palm oil industry had a good year with prices at record levels owing to strong demand, mainly because […]
To predict quakes, listen to the animals, China survivors say
TANGSHAN, China, May 25, 2008 (AFP) – Well before this city was destroyed by an earthquake 32 years ago, the coming disaster was loudly preceded by strange animal behaviour and other bizarre signals that survivors wish they heeded.“The animals were trying to tell us something.If only we knew that, not so many people would have […]
‘s highest rate of over 100-year-olds: expert
HAVANA, May 24, 2008 (AFP) – About 1,800 Cubans are over 100 years old, making it the country with the highest rate of centenarians, an expert said Saturday.Eugenio Selman-Housein, chairman of the 120 Years Club and previously head of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s medical team, also said “life expectancy has gone up to almost […]
Money may buy happiness (or not): economists renew debate
WASHINGTON, May 25, 2008 (AFP) – The saying goes that money can’t buy happiness.But inquiring economists have been working for decades trying to prove or disprove the notion.Resarchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business released a study in April showing “a clear positive link” between wealth and “subjective well-being,” based on global […]