Category: Other
Dollar weaker in Asia despite central bank credit plan
TOKYO, Dec 13, 2007 (AFP) – The dollar slipped against other major currencies in Asian trade on Thursday amid uncertainty about how effective a central bank plan to ease a global credit crunch will be, dealers said. The euro rose to 1.4720 dollars in Tokyo morning trade from 1.4702 dollars in New York late Wednesday, […]
Sri Lanka counters British broadside, envoy summoned
Dec 13, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has expressed displeasure at outspoken remarks by Britain’s envoy on national politics, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday, but it remained silent on charges that politicians were corrupt. “The British High Commissioner, Dominic Chilcott, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to express the deep displeasure of the […]
Fed gives lump of coal to jittery markets
WASHINGTON, Dec 11, 2007 (AFP) – The Federal Reserve’s third cut in interest rates in as many meetings failed to allay concerns on financial markets that the US economy runs a risk of entering a serious downturn, analysts said. Economists said the Fed headed by chairman Ben Bernanke appeared divided and muddled in their outlook, […]
China, US economic talks open
XIANGHE, China, Dec 12, 2007 (AFP) – Twice-yearly economic talks between China and the United States began here on Wednesday with the Chinese currency and the world powers’ ballooning trade imbalance again under the spotlight. The two days of talks began at a sprawling convention centre an hour’s drive southeast of Beijing, following complaints and […]
Petition Call
Dec 12, 1007 (LBO) – A charity working to free a teenaged Sri Lanka maid on death row in Saudi Arabia has called for renewed public petitions for clemency amid fears that her sentence may be upheld despite an ongoing formal appeal. The Asian Human Rights Commissions (AHRC), which funded a legal appeal for Rizana […]
” Briton charged with deception
LONDON, Dec 11, 2007 (AFP) – The wife of a man who resurfaced after being presumed dead for more than five years was set to appear in court on Tuesday charged with two counts of deception. Anne Darwin, a 55-year-old former doctor’s surgery receptionist, will appear in Hartlepool Magistrates Court, where her husband John, 57, […]
ADB lends US$300mn to develop Indonesian capital markets
MANILA, Dec 11, 2007 (AFP) – Indonesia will borrow 300 million dollars from the Asian Development Bank to develop the country’s capital markets, the Philippines-based lender said Tuesday. The programme would promote transparency and information disclosure in capital markets, enabling market valuation of fixed-income instruments, an ADB statement said. Jakarta has undertaken financial sector reforms […]
South American inflation kings launch regional bank
BUENOS AIRES, Dec 9, 2007 (AFP) – Six South American presidents on Sunday launched the Bank of the South, the region’s answer to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund as a source for development funds. Presidents Nestor Kirchner of Argentina, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Nicanor Duarte of Paraguay, Rafael Correa […]
Singapore to invest almost 10 billion dollars in troubled UBS
SINGAPORE, Dec 10, 2007 (AFP) – The Singapore government’s investment arm announced Monday that it will inject almost 10 billion US dollars into Swiss bank UBS, its largest ever investment in a company.The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) said it would inject 11 billion Swiss francs (9.74 billion US dollars) into UBS, which on […]
Still On
Dec 09, 2007 (LBO) – A Saudi Arabian court has begun to review a case where a Sri Lankan teenaged maid was accused of murdering an infant in her care, but a decision may take more time, a report from the desert kingdom said. . The lawyer of the maid Rizana Nafeek was quoted by […]
Clemency
Dec 09, 2007 (LBO) – A Saudi Arabian court has begun reviewing the case of a Sri Lankan housemaid condemned to death for killing a four-month-old infant in her care. The Middle Eastern English language daily Arab News reported Sunday that a three-member court, headed by Dawadmi High Court chief judge Abdullah Abdul Aziz Al-Rosaimi, […]
Developing world must be able to lift emissions: Nobel winner
NEW DELHI, Dec 8, 2007 (AFP) – Developing nations must be allowed to boost carbon emissions to lift millions out of poverty, says the head of the Nobel prize-winning climate change panel slated to formally get the award on Monday.“If you have the case of India, a half a billion people who do not even […]