Category: Other

PARIS, Dec 6, 2007 (AFP) – A strong euro and tougher credit conditions will weigh on the eurozone economy next year, the OECD predicted on Thursday, cutting its 2008 growth forecast to 1.9 percent from 2.3 percent previously. It also warned that a stronger-than-expected slowdown in the United States, Europe’s biggest trade partner, would also […]

SYDNEY, Dec 5, 2007 (AFP) – Australia’s central bank left interest rates on hold at an 11-year high of 6.75 percent Wednesday, while warning that it remained concerned about inflationary pressures. The decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia had been widely anticipated by economists, who believed the bank was likely to take the view […]

LOS ANGELES, Dec 4, 2007 (AFP) – Teenage actors and singers such as 15-year-old “Hannah Montana” starlet Miley Cyrus are among the most highly paid young stars on the planet with annual income worth millions of dollars, Forbes magazine revealed Tuesday. Cyrus, daughter of the country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, recently shot to stardom in […]

WASHINGTON, Dec 3, 2007 (AFP) – Rich nations should hire women from developing economies in a bid to break a WTO deadlock on cross-border movement of professional service providers, a World Bank study says.Industrialized nations are reluctant to accept migrants from developing economies such as nurses and IT workers as part of proposals under the […]

BRUSSELS, Dec 3, 2007 (AFP) – Growth in the 13 nations sharing the euro is expected to be weaker than expected only several months ago, according to the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund on Monday.The head of the IMF’s European department, Michael Deppler, painted a darker outlook for the eurozone in a presentation […]

CANBERRA, Dec 3, 2007 (AFP) – Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Australia’s 26th prime minister on Monday after a landslide election win nine days ago against long-serving conservative leader John Howard. Rudd took the oath of office before Governor-General Michael Jeffery at Government House in Canberra, launching a new era in […]

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 2, 2007 (AFP) – US researchers warn that bullies are taking their hurtful ways from real-world schoolyards to the “cyber” world by targeting teens with nasty e-mail, text messaging, and online chat. The number of children ages 10 to 17 that say they were abused by “cyber bullies” climbed 50 percent, from […]

NEW DELHI, Dec 2, 2007 (AFP) – India’s economy can keep up its scorching growth for the next two decades as long as investment stays strong, the finance minister said on Sunday. India’s economy has grown by an average annual 8.6 percent for the last four years and the minister has said he is targeting […]

PARIS, Dec 1, 2007 (AFP) – Activists and global leaders used World AIDS Day Saturday to warn against complacency in fighting the disease and called on governments to fill a multi-billion-dollar funding gap.In Haiti, the country with the greatest number of HIV infected people in the Americas (190,000) after Brazil, despite a relatively small population, […]

SANYA, China, Dec 1, 2007 (AFP) – Pre-contest favourite Miss China won the Miss World 2007 title in her own country late Saturday, much to the delight of the audience, in front of an estimated two billion viewers around the globe.As well as being held on World AIDS Day, Miss World 2007 came a week […]

CHICAGO, Dec 1, 2007 (AFP) – Dozens of teens dressed in uniforms provided by the US Marines stand at attention in the gym of a Chicago public high school as a drill sergeant goes through a list of the day’s do’s and don’ts.Bring your books to class. Come for extra help if you need it.And […]

WASHINGTON, Nov 29, 2007 (AFP) – The Federal Reserve sees a high degree of uncertainty in the US economic outlook and is worried that strains in financial markets may lead to broader problems, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday.In remarks prepared for delivery to a business group in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bernanke said policymakers are […]