Category: Other

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 (AFP) – The US Treasury said Thursday it had reached a series of agreements with two powerful sovereign wealth funds based in Abu Dhabi and Singapore covering investments in US markets. The agreements were hammered out in a meeting at the US Treasury hosted by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and come […]

SAN FRANCISCO, March 20, 2008 (AFP) – US telecom giants Verizon Wireless and AT&T on Thursday took home the big prizes in a record-setting US wireless spectrum auction while Google got the open access it eagerly craves. The 700 MHz band currently carries standard television broadcasts, and will be freed up when stations switch to […]

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2008 (AFP) – Men and women have different tastes in food, with men favoring meat and poultry, and women fruits and vegetables, researchers said in what was touted as the most extensive study to date of gender differences in eating habits. More than 14,000 adult men and women were surveyed from May […]

LONDON, March 19, 2008 (AFP) – Crude oil and gold prices plunged from recent record heights on Wednesday, as markets were rattled by concerns that ongoing global economic turmoil would dent demand for commodities, analysts said. New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, plummeted 4.22 dollars to 105.20 dollars per […]

SINGAPORE, March 20, 2008 (AFP) – World oil prices continued to fall in Asian trade Thursday, with more volatility expected as investors continue to assess the US economy, dealers said. In early morning trade, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for May fell 60 cents to 101.94 dollars per barrel from its close of […]

March 20, 2008 (AFP) – British sci-fi guru Arthur C. Clarke will be buried at a private funeral in Sri Lanka’s capital on Saturday, a close aide to the late writer said.The author had been largely confined to a wheelchair as a result of post-polio syndrome for several decades. Clarke, who captured the world’s imagination […]

NEW YORK, March 18, 2008 (AFP) – Wall Street joined a potent global stock rally Tuesday as the US Federal Reserve delivered a hefty rate cut aimed at easing credit turmoil and reviving growth in the world’s biggest economy. Stronger-than-expected results from investment banks Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, which managed to weather the market […]

OTTAWA, March 18, 2008 (AFP) – For the first time in Canada, federal police have charged a man with financing terrorists for soliciting cash for the Tamil Tigers, a banned group in this country, police said Tuesday.Thambithurai was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for a bail hearing. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)’s anti-terrorism […]

NEW YORK, March 18, 2008 (AFP) – Credit card giant Visa raised more than 17 billion dollars Tuesday in the largest share offering in US history, despite a growing financial crisis in the country. Visa Inc. sold 406,000,000 shares priced at 44 dollars each, raising nearly 17.9 billion dollars before it begins trading on the […]

March 19, 2008 (AFP) – British-born science fiction guru Arthur C.Clarke who died here Wednesday is likely to be buried at the main cemetery in Colombo at the weekend at a “strictly secular” funeral, an aide told AFP.“The funeral is most likely to be on Saturday,” Clarke’s secretary Nalaka Gunawardena said. “We are awaiting the […]

SHANGHAI, March 19, 2008 (AFP) – China is expected by May to officially launch a company making large jets that could eventually rival Boeing and Airbus, official media reported Wednesday.The state assets watchdog and the government of Shanghai, where the aircraft will be assembled, will be the first and second biggest shareholders respectively, the China […]