Category: Other

WASHINGTON, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) – Developing countries on Friday dismissed the International Monetary Fund’s pace of reforms to increase their voice in the troubled institution as “disappointing and unacceptable.” The Group of 24 developing countries, representing the majority of the IMF’s membership but only an impotent minority in its operations, reiterated its call for […]

KARACHI, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) – A suicide bombing targeting former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto killed at least 125 people, turning her emotional homecoming parade after eight years in exile into a scene of carnage Friday.Bhutto was unhurt, escaping with her life as the blast ripped through the police escort for the parade in […]

NEW YORK, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) – New York crude oil prices surpassed a record 90 dollars a barrel in after-hours trading Thursday as Iraq urged Turkey not to take military action against Kurdish rebels located in northern Iraq.Traders said oil prices were also stoked higher by a weakening US dollar and global supply jitters. […]

TOKYO, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) – The head of a UN climate panel that shared the Nobel Peace Prize warned Friday that Asia was particularly vulnerable to global warming, with the continent set for more disasters unless action is taken. “Asia being the rapidly growing continent with the largest share of the human population located […]

MUMBAI, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) – Indian share prices slid 2.44 percent in volatile trade on Friday as investors chose to unwind positions fearing sharper falls on concerns over capital flow controls, dealers said.They said the markets could drop further until clarity emerges on a regulatory proposal to curb capital flows into India. The benchmark […]

BEIJING, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) – China had 345,000 millionaires by the end of last year, the second-most in Asia after Japan, according to a new study by US investment bank Merrill Lynch. The number of Chinese US dollar millionaires was up 7.8 percent from the year before, helped by a stock market that saw […]

Washington, Oct 17, 2007 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund’s top economic researcher said the Fund was having a fresh look at the phenomenon of high oil prices which is partly caused by a weakening dollar, and urged emerging economies to re-think their exchange policies. . “Oil is denominated in dollars. As the dollar depreciates […]

WASHINGTON, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) – Nearly two-thirds of US medical school department chairs maintain some form of personal or financial links to the private sector, according to a study published Tuesday.The study, published in the October 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, also urges greater transparency and “underscore the need […]

MUMBAI, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) – Indian share prices plunged more than nine percent Wednesday, forcing a trading halt, after the market watchdog proposed restrictions on purchases by overseas investors, dealers said.They said the plunge followed a notice by the Securities and Exchange Board of India saying it would consider curbs on the use of […]

HARARE, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s inflation rate, already the highest in the world, rose to a new peak of nearly 8,000 percent last month, figures released by the central statistics bureau showed on Wednesday.“The year-on-year inflation rate in September 2007 was 7,892.1 percent, gaining 1,389.3 percentage points on the August rate of 6,592.8 […]

HONG KONG, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) – The number of dollar millionaires in Asia has swelled by 8.6 percent, with Japan home to more than 1.47 million, a report published Wednesday found. Japan has 43.7 percent of the region’s High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) — those with assets of more than one million dollars excluding […]