Category: Other

SINGAPORE, Feb 12, 2008 (AFP) – A consortium launched in Singapore on Tuesday aims to choke militants’ access to funds in Southeast Asia which one analyst said could reach three million US dollars a month. The Consortium for Countering the Financing of Terrorism aims to strengthen cooperation between banks, government agencies and academia to cut […]

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb 12, 2008 (AFP) – In many poor and emerging countries, the lack of banking infrastructure but widespread use of mobile phones has created a business opportunity that network operators are keen to exploit.On Monday, British operator Vodafone announced at the industry’s annual trade show in Barcelona that it would launch a money […]

Feb 12, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will confer a national honor on visiting Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom for fostering close relations with the island, the foreign ministry said.Gayoom is scheduled to arrive in the island today with a delegation of senior ministers and officials. “The Lanka Mithra Vibushana” will be conferred on Gayoom […]

CARACAS, Feb 10, 2008 (AFP) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday warned Venezuela could expropriate milk processing plants based here and owned by Italy’s Parmalat and Swiss-owned Nestle.Caracas blames exporting to other countries for the supply chain woes. Exporters blame price controls the government put in place five years ago. “It doesn’t make any […]

NEW DELHI, Feb 11, 2008 (AFP) – Police in northern Indian have held six alleged Islamic militants suspected of planning an attack on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), a report said Monday.India’s stock market is a potent symbol of the country’s booming economic growth.In 2007, India’s stock markets rose by a record 47.1 percent, the […]

HONG KONG, Feb 11, 2008 (AFP) – On the day before the Lunar New Year festival, almost every pork butcher in Hong Kong’s Wanchai market is frantically busy with queues of housewives and maids 10 deep. Family feasts to mark the new lunar cycle — this year the advent of the year of the rat […]

PARIS, Feb 9, 2008 (AFP) – World stockmarkets lost 5.2 trillion dollars (3.6 trillion euros) in January thanks to the fallout from the US subprime crisis and fears of a global economic slowdown, Standard & Poor’s said Saturday. But only Argentina and Taiwan slipped into negative territory for the 12-month period. “If investors thought the […]

PARIS, Feb 10, 2008 (AFP) – A new court battle will be held Monday over the detention of French rogue trader Jerome Kerviel while Societe Generale is to soon launch an eight billion dollar capital increase to cover the losses they blame on him.The decision by a Paris appeals court on Friday to back a […]

LONDON, Feb 8, 2008 (AFP) – OPEC could switch the pricing of oil from dollars into euros within a decade, secretary general Abdullah al-Badri told a weekly magazine. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could adopt the euro to combat the decline of the dollar, Badri told the Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), published […]

NEW YORK, Feb 8, 2008 (AFP) – US stock markets tumbled heavily in the week to Friday, giving Wall Street a fresh battering, despite Congress granting a green light to a giant economic stimulus package sought by the White House. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions. The plan, worth around 150 billion dollars, […]

SYDNEY, Feb 9, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka were the second best side at last year’s World Cup but captain Mahela Jayawardene has admitted that a continuing inability to beat Australia is becoming a major concern.Another loss would make it hard for Sri Lanka to reach the finals of the tri-series. On Friday, in the […]