Category: Other

BANGKOK, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) – Thailand’s inflation rate in September rose to 2.1 percent year-on-year due to a spike in food prices and rising fuel prices, the Commerce Ministry said Monday. Thailand’s economy is expected to grow just over four percent in 2007, ranking among the lowest in Southeast Asia. The September figure was […]

Oct 01, 2007 (LBO) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is helping Maldives probe a blast in the capital that injured 12 tourists Saturday, the US embassy in Colombo said Monday. The embassy said it was “shocked and saddened” to learn of the incident. “We condemn without reservation this senseless act of violence,” the […]

Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) – The Maldives has arrested 10 suspects and is seeking outside help to investigate a bombing that wounded 12 foreign tourists in the first such attack on the holiday paradise, officials said Monday. The country appeared to have been largely spared religious fundamentalism although political tensions have flared periodically since an […]

Burundi cop, Sri Lanka professors win Swiss human rights prize GENEVA, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) – A policeman from the central African country of Burundi and two university professors from Sri Lanka have been named as the top human rights defenders for 2007 by a Swiss-based rights group. Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, a former policeman turned […]

LONDON, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) – The high-flying euro, which last week soared from record to record against the dollar, has sparked sharply contrasting reactions in France and Germany, with Paris complaining and Berlin applauding.The single currency, shared by 11 other European nations besides France and Germany, shot to a new all-time high of 1.4263 […]

Sept 29, 2007 (AFP) – A home-made bomb ripped through a crowded park in the Maldivian capital Male Saturday, wounding 12 foreign nationals, tourism minister Mahamood Shougee told AFP.Since then, Britain had been helping the government and opposition groups sink their differences and work towards democratic reforms.Two Britons, two Japanese and eight Chinese were wounded […]

YANGON, Sept 29, 2007 (AFP) – UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari arrived in military-ruled Myanmar on Saturday and headed straight to the junta’s isolated capital for what he said he hoped would be “a very fruitful visit.” Deployed by UN chief Ban Ki-moon after this week’s bloody crackdown against pro-democracy protesters, Gambari landed in the […]

Sept 29, 2007 (LBO) – Police in the Indian Ocean Maldives Islands have sought foreign help to probe a blast that injured 12 tourists Saturday, as authorities feared a hit on the country’s top revenue earning industry, reports said. The incident had shattered the islands’ image as a tranquil tourist destination, which had helped the […]

GABORONE, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) – The IMF will continue to shun Zimbabwe until its central bank stops meddling and the government starts managing its natural resources properly, a senior official said on Thursday. “Zimbabwe must put in place the proper economic policies and gradually they will see the IMF coming on board,” International Monetary […]

NEW YORK, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) – US businesses have pledged to spend more than four billion dollars on environmental, educational and humanitarian projects a New York summit organized by former president Bill Clinton. By Thursday, the second day of a three-day summit, several firms had stepped forward with pledges at the Clinton Global Initiative […]